OPM Disability Retirement: The Gargantuan Bureaucracy

Gargantuan; Leviathan-like; Mammoth; Elephantine; such descriptive words at once describe and simultaneously belie the true nature of an entity, especially when it comes to an administrative bureaucracy at the Federal level.  Agencies are organic structures, made up of micro-entities (i.e., people), divided into sections which operate within an infrastructure of larger branches, some of which are essential to the direction of the organism, others which are peripheral but still serve a minor purpose.

Thus, a Federal Agency can be likened to the human body; certain “parts” can be severed without doing mortal harm (a toe or a finger, perhaps); other organs are vital to the very survival of the living organism.  Within that large structural entity lives and breathes the multiplicity of components which make up the composite whole. Because of the sheer size, it is advisable to retain evidence of anything which has been forwarded or sent in for consumption by the beast.

Thus, in a Federal Disability Retirement case, whether under FERS or CSRS, the normal course of business in encountering the U.S. Office of Personnel Management should include the ability to show that a vital piece of information was sent and can be verified that it was sent.  Receipt is another matter.  Once a beast consumes its prey, it is difficult enough to try and reach down its throat to see if it made its way into the proper digestive system.  All that one can show is that it was fed; whether and how it was received is often known only by the burp of satisfaction echoing from the winding corridors of an endless maze.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

Medical Retirement Benefits for Federal & Postal Employees: Listing the Medical Conditions

The rule on an application for Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS or CSRS is that, once the application is filed with the Office of Personnel Management, the application cannot be amended or modified with respect to the “list” of medical conditions.  Thus, on the Applicant’s Statement of Disability (SF 3112A), one must list the medical conditions upon which the entire application for eligibility is based.  Once it is filed with OPM and a CSA Number is assigned to the case, you are restricted from being able to “add” to the list of medical conditions which are delineated on your statement.  This is fair enough, if one stops and reflects upon it, for a number of reasons.  For one thing, it would be unfair to have the right to change the basis upon which one has filed for Federal Employee Disability Retirement benefits under FERS or CSRS.  For another, OPM must be able to begin the process of evaluating the eligibility of a case without the potential for modification of the medical conditions, or the adding or subtracting of the underlying basis of the claim.  However, the mere fact that one cannot “add” to the list of medical conditions, does not prevent one from submitting additional supporting medical documentation (even from a previously-unnamed medical provider) which would support the already-listed medical conditions. 

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

OPM Disability Retirement: Always Verify Submissions

The old saying:  Measure twice, cut once, can be adapted here:  Verify twice, submit once.  I am always surprised by Federal and Postal employees who have filed for Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS or CSRS to hear that a document, a submission, a Request for Reconsideration, an appeal, etc., was sent to the Office of Personnel Management by regular mail, with no manner of verification.  While I have great respect for the personnel who work at the U.S. Postal Service as well as the Office of Personnel Management, such issues have nothing to do with individual competence; instead, it has to do with the recognition that all oversized agencies (do we even have to argue as to what is defined as an “oversized agency”?) have their internal mail problems — not only of sending or receiving mail, but getting it to the right person, etc.  Not everyone needs to be overly “verification-sensitive” like I am, but my methodology for every document forwarded to OPM is as follows:  faxed (with a print-out of a receipt showing that the fax went through), as well as an express mail or FedEx tracking number.  Verify twice, submit once.  The Office of Personnel Management has never won an argument with me that they “never received it.”

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire