ssdi and post office disability retirement

What is the name of your state?Fl Hello,My friend works for the US Post Office for 15yrs.Has chronic rhmatoid arthritis,fibromyalgia,sleep disorder.I cannot believe she drags herself to work each day often in tears,comes home from work and goes to bed.Drs.say she is tot.perm.disabled,however shes 58,has 4 yrs to go for usps retirement,under fers,I have suggested applying for disability at work and ssdi.She was told if she was awarded ssdi,the work disability would be deducted thereby she would inreality on get an amt.equal to the ssdi,everything we read kinda sounds that way too.So shes tryin like mad to make it through so she would get her pension and ss retirement believing this would give greatest retirement income. Thankfully,she has excused sickleave under the family leave something or other. Thanks for any info.

automanfl said:

What is the name of your state?Fl Hello,My friend works for the US Post Office for 15yrs.

Click to expand...

I worked for the PO, and had to take a medical retirement at age 29. Here's how the disability thing works with FERS.

If she goes out on FERS disability retirement, she is required to apply for SSDI. If she gets it, her disability retirement will be reduced by 60% of the amount she gets from SSDI. That would give her more $$ than she would get from just SSDI, since she would still get to keep 40% of her disability pay plus her full SSDI payment.

(The reality is that SSDI is usually turned down upon application, and has to be appealed again and again until it's finally approved.)

Once she reaches her minimum retirement age, her disability pension will adjust to what her retirement pay would be if she had worked the full amount of time. (For example, in my case, once I hit 56 yrs, 4 months old, my pension will bump up quite a bit.) Also, once she reaches regular retirement age, her SSDI will change to SS retirement pay.

One other thing to be aware of is that she can keep her health insurance from OPM. The premium will go up quite a bit though.

Her health is probably worse because she keeps pushing herself to work. Her health might improve if she weren't working all the time.

I do hope she has medical documentation so that she is on light duty, and also doesn't have to work overtime. I know how nice the $$ is, but December is hell at the PO, with mandatory 2-4 hours overtime unless the doctor orders otherwise.

i APPRECIATE THE POST, IF SHE IS APPROVED FOR SSDI,SHE WOULD ALSO GET MEDICARE ,WOULD SHE STILL HAVE TO KEEP MEDICAL WITH HER JOB,

automanfl said:

i APPRECIATE THE POST, IF SHE IS APPROVED FOR SSDI,SHE WOULD ALSO GET MEDICARE ,WOULD SHE STILL HAVE TO KEEP MEDICAL WITH HER JOB,

Click to expand...

(Typing in all caps is shouting)

She won't qualify for medicare until 2 years after approval for SSDI. Until then, she definitely would need her federal employee health insurance. Also, medicare isn't great coverage the way I understand it. With so many health issues, I would want the best coverage possible, and FEHBP (fed health insurance) is good insurance. Plus, is she has a spouse, the fed coverage would take care of his medical needs also. medicare won't.

sorry for the caps.sometimes i do it cause its easier for some friends to read,i forget to remove cap lock, thanks for replies