Q. I applied for Office of Personnel Management disability retirement and I’m currently on leave without pay. Back in April (around the time OPM received my DR application), I noticed the amount in Block 19 dropped from around $8,400 to around $60. Is this somehow related to my DR application, and should I be concerned?
A. Yes, it is related to your DR application. Your LES was suspended on the date you went on LWOP. The lower figure represents the amount accumulated during that final pay period.
8 Comments
What happens to that money they removed from my LES?
So I’m about to be removed from federal service on the 5th and I have applied for federal disability retirement. Once I’m removed will I get that money back?
That money will stay in you account. If you are approved for disability retirement, it will be used (along with the government’s money) to fund your disability annuity. If you aren’t approved for disability retirement, you can leave your contributions in the fund and apply for a regular annuity when you have the right combination of age and service. If you instead ask for refund, you’ll cancel any future entitlement to an annuity.
I have been on lwop for just over 365 days now battling with OWCP for an injury. I saw in my e-OPF a 2810 which they haven’t sent to me yet saying my feud is terminating, and I have 31 day extension. My agency has not separated me. Is the fact that I have not been separated mean I can’t purchase TCC? This is a nightmare. I am going to most likely have to file disability retirement. If it is approved, am I eligible to have my FEHB reinstated? The only deadline I see for filing disability retirement is that it is within one year of separation. I haven’t been separated, but am losing my FEHB in the next few weeks. I have been hysterical since I saw this in my OPF this morning. Nothing at all has arrived from OPM or my agency either. Thank you.
You can apply for TCC as soon as you are separated. If you are approved for disability retirement, you can reenroll in the FEHB program.
Thank you Mr. Jones. The sad part to my research today shows that if I am separated, buying my same bcbs plan through the marketplace with health care credits now that my income is gone, would be cheaper than TCC. What a scary and crazy world. This is just a sad chapter to an almost 30 year career that I loved. Thrown out in the trash on garbage day. OPM hasn’t even managed to get me a letter of termination of benefits in my mailbox almost three weeks later. Only reason I saw it happened was looking at my e-OPF. Looking forward is all I can do now. Thank you again for your confirming my thoughts.
My wife was approved for disability retirement with DoD in January 2019. She was on LWOP for all of 2018. Is she entiltled to the LWOP payback?
For an answer, go to https://www.opm.gov/retirement-services/publications-forms/csrsfers-handbook/c060.pdf and scroll to Section 60A6.1-2D, which applies to both CSRS and FERS employees