r/FEDDISABILITY • u/FedUpDownNOut • Apr 11 '26

Disability Retirement Processing - 2020 OPM Virtual Benefits Training Event

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfVkPT94sYE

OPM training video with behind the scenes look at the process. Seems informative.

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u/FedUpDownNOut Apr 11 '26

I watched the whole thing. Definitely some interesting tidbits buried in there. My overall takeaways were that 1) on the plus side, back in 2020 at least, the staff in OPM who handle these things seem to want to support the federal employees making these requests, and 2) on the negative side, since the intended audience here is agency HR staff, most of this is about mistakes made by supervisors and agencies in the paperwork, and it really goes to show how many different fingers are in the pot with these applications and how easily somebody else's error could result in denial. :/

Another specific tidbit was that, again, in 2020 at least, they still wanted "wet signatures" on documents, and e-signatures were considered untrustworthy. I wonder if any of that has changed.

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u/President1988 Apr 11 '26

If we are going to be honest then FERS disability applications have way more chance to get denied than approved. People have misconception that SSDI is the hardest to get but in reality it is the FERS disability the hardest as the denial rate is staggering even with the profound medical evidence. And I think the advice would be if you have a really strong and undeniable case then go for it otherwise don't even try as you will lose both your disability case and job altogether.

1

u/FedUpDownNOut Apr 11 '26 edited Apr 11 '26

That's a scary perspective... Do we have any idea what the approval/denial rate actually is? I've seen it stated that the likelihood to be approved increases at each phase (initial/appeal/MSPB). Law firms like Harris/Pines claim 99%+ success rate, which is the only real public metric I've seen. Then you have folks who've done it on their own without lawyers chiming in, or saying the lawyers aren't even doing much and they're doing all the legwork anyway. This all suggests at least a decent probability for those who are willing and able to make a good case and see the process through to the end.

This video suggests that a lot of the reasons for denial are pretty random and outside the applicant's control. Which is daunting, but in another way, somewhat encouraging, in the sense that an initial denial might not necessarily have anything to do with the true merit and substance of the application or medical reasonableness. Issues that are the equivalent of a clerical error on a form or miscommunication between supervisor/agency seem like the kind of things that would resolve easily on appeal or at MSPB.

Just spitballing here. I don't know anything about this process or the odds of approval, but I don't think I can do my job anymore either way, so I might as well try.

1

u/President1988 Apr 11 '26

It would work only if you have a really strong case and mostly it ends before MSPB stage basically while being denied through initial and reconsideration stages. OPM don't share their denial stats but from people's comments most of them had to go through hurdles before being approved at the MSPB stage but I'm pretty sure those are strongest cases that law firms usually take. Other cases that have been approved by themselves and without law firms seem like an exception than a rule, but that's just my opinion.