Veterans seeking disability compensation benefits from the VA for Diabetes have multiple ways to prove that their Diabetes is service-connected. Attig Law Firm attorney Chris Attig, a Veteran’s Disability Compensation Benefits attorney, summarizes the top 4 methods to service connect diabetes.
The Federal employee or postal worker applying for FERS or CSRS federal disability retirement has thirty (30) days from receipt of the OPM reconsideration to file an MSPB appeal challenging OPM’s denial of federal disability retirement Benefits.
Often, the federal employee or postal worker who cannot or has not hired an attorney runs the risk of missing this deadline if their medical condition worsens and hospitalizes them. Now, the MSPB loves it deadlines, and will find any missed deadline as good enough reason [...]
USA Today is reporting that the VA intends to announce plans today to automate disability benefits claims for those Veterans suffering from diseases or medical conditions related to their Agent Orange Exposures during the Vietnam War.
You can read the full article here. Though details on the “automated system” are not yet available, the automated claims system will be used only for Veterans applying for benefits for the new conditions identified as presumptively connected to Agent Orange this past October 2009.
In [...]
Can absence, alone, be enough to qualify a Postal or Federal Employee for FERS or CSRS disability retirement through OPM?
Generally, no. In many situations, a Postal worker or Federal employee’s medical condition is so severe that they cannot even attempt the attendance required of them. In this cases, the employee’s absence from work due to a medical condition will be a factor in deciding whether the federal disability retirement applicant is eligible for disability retirement benefits. However, there will usually need to [...]
Assuming that a postal worker or federal employee meets all the basic eligibility requirements for FERS or CSRS federal disability retirement, they will have to persuade the MSPB Administrative Judge that their medical condition renders them unable to provide useful and efficient government service.
How exactly do you persuade the MSPB of this? There are five (5) ways a USPS or Federal employee can use evidence to persuade the MSPB Administrative Judge that his or her medical condition is sufficiently disabling [...]
By far, the most common question that applicants for FERS or CSRS disability retirement ask the Attig Law Firm is whether and when a federal employee or postal worker should hire an attorney. There is no easy answer to this question. No case or situation is the same, so there is no way that any attorney can give you a “standard” answer to this question. Here is the general guidance that we give to postal workers or federal employees who [...]
General Shinseki, Secretary of the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, has committed to fix what many call the broken VA disability system.
The General indicated that, to start looking for solutions, the VA will start pilot projects in the following Regional Offices: Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania), Little Rock (Arkansas) Providence (Rhode Island), and Baltimore (Maryland). Shinseki’s plan is to reduce the backlog by 2015, with a goal that a veteran wouldn’t wait more than four months for a claim to be processed.
You can read [...]
In some situations, OPM will grant your FERS or CERS disability retirement benefits, and later, make a determination that you are restored to earning capacity. At that point, they will stop paying your federal disability retirement benefits.
Many times, this happens in the case of annuities granted for mental health conditions like depression, PTSD, anxiety or stress disorders, etc. The annuitant, after treatment, may see his or her condition temporarily improve, only to return to its disabling state at a later [...]
The subject of today’s post is whether obesity, or morbid obesity, might qualify you for FERS or CSRS Disability retirement through OPM.
Obesity is a well-recognized medical condition. Unfortunately, too many MSPB judges view this condition as one that is the “fault” of the person with obesity. Medical experts have identified hundreds of medical conditions, or physical or genetic factors, which can cause obesity, including: reduced metabolic rates, pituitary gland disease, pituitary gland tumors, underactive thyroid, Prader-Willi syndrome, Stein-Leventhal syndrome, Frohlich [...]
Can OPM deny a federal disability retirement application to a postal worker or federal employee on the grounds that they entered Federal Civil Service with a pre-existing condition?
In some unique situations, OPM may be able to, so long as their decision does not lead to an absurd result. In Davis v. OPM, 64 MSPR 1, 4 (1994), the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) reminded practitioners that where an appellant enters Federal service with a pre-existing medical condition, he or she will [...]
Attig Law Firm is a progressive and professional firm with a uniquely creative approach to the practice of law. Mr. Attig believes that there is more than one way to skin a cat; that sometimes it pays to go against the grain, and that every now and again, it is essential to speak truth to power. He is willing to challenge "conventional wisdom" to help you achieve your goals.
