Last Updated on January 19, 2023
An Applicant’s Statement of Disability in a Federal Disability Retirement application under FERS must always attempt to coordinate the statement with the supporting medical (and other) documentation, taking care that the statement does not undermine the supporting documentation, and conversely, to deliberately and with purposeful intent to make sure that the supporting documentation does just that — “supports” and complements what the Statement of Disability states.
Thus, the Statement of Disability must find a careful balance between overwhelming the supporting documentation and undermining the supporting documentation. It must do neither; it must, instead, strike the middle ground, allowing for the supporting documentation to provide the focal emphasis of the substance and content of the claims inherent in the Statement of Disability, and at the same time, must validate the Statement of Disability.
In this way, a Federal employee’s Statement of Disability in an OPM Disability Retirement application under the FERS system conveys the validity of a submission.
Sincerely,
Robert R. McGill, Esquire