Medical Retirement for Federal Workers: Once upon a Time

Once upon a time, there were great “causes” for which people fought to live for; evil empires which desired domination and for which the world went to war; liberties denied and suppressed, resulting in meaningful mass protests; and in the microcosm of individual lives, hope for a future and a better tomorrow, for which people married, had families, and strove for stability.

In today’s world, the opposite seems to prevail; the news is replete with trivial reasons to exit life; if one is turned down when a prom invitation is issued, it is a basis for an outrageous reaction; assertions of hurt feelings can be the foundation for court filings declaring a violation of rights; and when a society mandates the importance of rights over courteous behavior, the crumbling of foundational structures is not too far from a once-distant and dark future.

The famous and classic book by Harper Lee encapsulates the contrast of great and small troubles; of a microcosm reflecting larger issues worthy of consideration; but always, there was a sense that tomorrow would bring about a brighter future.  In it, Atticus speaks of the idea that one can never quite understand another unless one walks in his shoes, and looks at things from the other’s perspective.

For Federal and Postal employees who suffer from a medical condition, such that the medical condition impacts one’s ability to perform the essential elements of one’s job, such a sense of the world is a well-known commodity.  All of a sudden, one becomes a pariah, when one may have been that shining star just a month before.

Federal Disability Retirement benefits are available for Federal and Postal Workers who seek a brighter tomorrow, and for whom greater causes still exist. That is why the benefit allows for the potential and possibility of the Federal Worker to seek other employment and a second vocation; for, Federal Disability Retirement benefits recognize the worth of the individual, and the fact that there is life after the devastating effects of a medical condition which may end one’s Federal or Postal career.

One may laugh at such notions, or have the cynical view that Federal Disability Retirement is merely one of those benefits for which the Federal government is giving another proverbial “handout”; but the fact is, like Atticus Finch in the classic novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, there is always a brighter future for every generation, no matter the despair one may feel at any given moment in history.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

OPM FERS/CSRS Disability Retirement: The Limitation of Imagination

The imposition of one’s cultural nurturing, combined with the genetic determinism of one’s heritage, makes us who we are, and presents to the world the essence of each unique personality.  One likes to think of the infinite and limitless potentiality of each individual, and indeed, when one views with awe the artwork of Michelangelo or reads the linguistic brilliance of Shakespeare, the inspiration which such paradigms of qualitative magnitude provides as examples of what can be, leaves one with breathless wonderment.

In reality, of course, most of us live lives of trepidation, confined to contained anxieties because of the self-defeating boundaries set by a lack of imaginative fortitude.  We hear of preachings to “think outside of the box”, but once the uttered declarative is embraced, we are actually following the conventional wisdom and merely repeating that which is inside the proverbial box, only to follow the dictates of conventionality to follow the masses to go outside, when everybody and his brother has already been doing that.

Federal and Postal Workers who are hit by a medical condition, such that it forces one to consider viable alternatives and reconsider one’s career and vocation for the future, often have no choice but to step outside of the conventional box. Federal Disability Retirement for all Federal and Postal Workers, whether under FERS or CSRS, and filed through the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, allows for that option of the human imagination going beyond the cultural or genetic determinism of one’s heritage, precisely by providing a semblance of financial security such that one can, after attending to one’s medical conditions, consider future employment options.

Federal Disability Retirement thus satisfies the foundation of human need; and it is only when the basic human needs are met, that one can then have the leisure of going beyond the limits of our own imaginations.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

OPM FERS/CSRS Disability Retirement: The Time is Now

Waiting for the perfect storm is always the most persuasive grounds for procrastination; that time where coalescence of all necessary factors come together to provide the optimal moment to do something, but which never arrives; and so there is always one issue still to point to, where one can say, “X has not occurred, yet,” in order to delay the inevitable.

The problem with allowing for perfection to prevent action, is that in the meantime it allows for the deterioration of surrounding circumstances and conditions to occur, thereby further exacerbating the allowance for any such perfection to appear.  Grounds always exist to excuse an action; and when the seriousness of contemplating a change of vocation or stoppage of a career is at stake, such grounds are normally reasonable and real.  But at some point, especially when contemplating filing for Federal Disability Retirement from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, whether under FERS or CSRS, the Federal or Postal employee must simply acknowledge the fact that one’s present circumstance itself is less-than-a-perfect situation, and with that admission, to weigh the factors in deciding whether filing for FERS or CSRS Disability Retirement is the only viable option left.

In a fantasy-filled virtual world, it may well be that one can wait for the coming-together of perfect circumstances; in the “real” world, one must face and decide upon options which may not always present themselves as the best of all possible worlds.

The problem with today is that many of us live in the virtual world of videos; but there is a Kantian world of objectivity out there, and the coldness of that world is often reflected in the very agencies for which Federal and Postal Workers work.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

Medical Retirement for Federal Workers: Moving Beyond

Once a decision has been made to begin preparing, formulating and filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS & CSRS, then the mechanical aspects of gathering and compiling the evidence to make one’s paper presentation to the Office of Personnel Management must begin.

It can be a daunting process.  However, it is overcoming the initial timidity which is the first step.  The compilation of the proper medical narrative reports with the effective wording and nexus between the medical condition and essential elements of one’s job; the creation of a narrative word picture of one’s Applicant’s Statement of Disability; any legal arguments to be presented and cited; the remainder of the Standard Forms to be completed by the Agency; the insurance forms — one can easily get lost in the morass of such paperwork.  

Then, there is the “waiting period” — that long and anxiety-stricken time of waiting for the Office of Personnel Management to makes its decision at the Initial Stage, and if denied, at the Reconsideration Stage of the process; and, if denied a second time, an appeal to the Merit Systems Protection Board.  

It is during the “waiting period” that one must begin to think about the period “beyond” — that time when one becomes a Federal Disability Retiree, where one finally has the proper time to attend to one’s medical conditions, then to rethink in terms of another job, another career, another phase of life.  It is the time to think about “moving beyond” one’s self-perception and paradigm of self-conception of being a “Federal employee”, and instead to think of the re-created self in new and fresh terms.

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire

Federal Disability Retirement: Avoidance of the Close Encounter

Ultimately, preparing, formulating and filing a Federal Disability Retirement application under FERS or CSRS from the Office of Personnel Management requires a “setting aside” of a direct encounter with one’s acknowledgment and concession that one has an intractable medical condition which is directly impacting one’s ability to perform the essential elements of one’s job.  It is to come face to face with the realization that the hard-fought career goals, the years of schooling and education; the overcoming of the inevitable learning curve during one’s youth and inception of a career — are ending not as a result of actualizing one’s dreams and goals, but because of an intermediate cause:  a medical condition.  

The struggle to continue working despite the chronic pain or deteriorating cognitive capabilities is the natural attempt to prolong that which one worked so diligently to strive towards; but at a certain point, such a struggle to continue working despite the increasing manifestation of the medical symptomatologies becomes an “avoidance” issue — of avoiding having to face the inevitable decision-making process of filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS or CSRS.

At some point, however, prolonging the avoidance issue for too long leads to the inevitability of a flashpoint — of an emergency resulting from a crisis, where the Agency itself will propose an adverse action, or the medical condition itself will dictate the terms and conditions which necessitate filing for Federal Disability Retirement benefits under FERS or CSRS.  Avoidance will force the close encounter; too long of an avoidance will make the encounter not just close, but a direct impact requiring emergency actions.  

Sincerely,

Robert R. McGill, Esquire