CSRS & FERS Disability Retirement: The Frustration of Dealing with OPM

The Office of Personnel Management is a large bureaucracy which handles thousands of cases, including disability retirement applications. Lately, more and more frustrating post-approval issues are appearing, including: sudden interim payments without any prior notice of approval of a claim (not a bad thing to happen, certainly, in comparison to a denial); non-receipt of a Read More …

CSRS & FERS Disability Retirement: Other Stories of Success

There are obviously many, many pitfalls in the attempt to obtain disability retirement benefits from the Office of Personnel Management. Sometimes, I get calls […] Read More …

OPM Disability Retirement: Future Perspectives

People often act without forecasting prospective issues. In filing for disability retirement, it is important to take into account the emphasis and basis […] Read More …

OPM Disability Retirement: Which Disabilities To List

When I look at a potential disability retirement case, I find it helpful to look at the case not only prospectively, but retrospectively. While not a “rule” cast in stone, when the Office of Personnel Management approves a disability retirement case, it will normally attach a page which identifies which disability — normally one, often Read More …

FERS & CSRS Disability Retirement: OPM’s Methodology II

When the Office of Personnel Management approves an OPM disability retirement application, as I stated in the previous article (OPM’s Methodology), they will normally choose to approve it based upon only one of the listed disabilities. This is because, from OPM’s viewpoint, if the applicant lists multiple medical disabilities, once OPM reaches any one of Read More …

FERS & CSRS Disability Retirement: OPM’s Methodology I

When the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) approves a Federal Disability Retirement application, a separate page from the approval letter will often be attached, which states the medical basis upon which the OPM Disability Retirement application was approved.  The separate page will often state something to the effect of: “You submitted an application for disability Read More …

FERS & CSRS Disability Retirement: Back-Pay

Remember to not spite yourself, especially when it comes to financial considerations. If your medical disability is forcing you to take excessive LWOP, it might be better to go “cold turkey” and stay completely out on LWOP while you file for disability retirement benefits. This is because, once you get your disability retirement application approved, Read More …