About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

GAO-10-351R 1 (2010-02-04)

handle is hein.gao/gaobaanrb0001 and id is 1 raw text is: A ~G A 0 .. .. A aointab lty I Integrity I Re|ability United States Government Accountability Office Washington, DC 20548 February 4, 2010 The Honorable John L. Mica Ranking Republican Member Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure House of Representatives The Honorable Bill Shuster Ranking Republican Member Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure House of Representatives Subj ect: Use of the Railroad Retirement Board Occupational Disability Program across the Rail Industry We recently reported that Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) workers applied for U.S. Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) occupational disability benefits at a rate 12 times higher than workers from the other commuter railroads covered under the Railroad Retirement Act.1 RRB provides an occupational disability benefit to eligible workers whose physical or mental impairments prevent them from performing their specific railroad jobs. For example, a railroad engineer who cannot frequently climb, bend, or reach, as required by the job, may be found occupationally disabled. On March 18, 2009, you asked us to conduct a systematic review of RRB's occupational disability program. Per our discussions following the release of our September 2009 report on LIRR and commuter rail workers' experience with the program, you refined your request. You told us that your primary interest was quickly determining whether unusual patterns in claims like those exhibited at LIRR exist elsewhere across the rail industry, including class I, II, and III railroads.2 This letter formally conveys the information we provided during a briefing with you and your staff on December 2, 2009. In summary, we found that no other 'GAO, Railroad Retirement Board: Review of Commuter Railroad Occupational Disability Claims Reveals Potential Program Vulnerabilities, GAO-09-821R (Washington, D.C.: Sept. 9, 2009). 2We classified railroads in accordance with RRB's 2007 Actuary Consolidations, which RRB officials report is generally based on Surface Transportation Board (STB) classifications. The STB classifies railroads as class 1, 11, and III based on operating revenues. Most of the eligible rail workers were employed by class I railroads in the years we reviewed. LIRR and the other seven commuter railroads are included in class III. We also analyzed other employers-such as car loan companies and rail labor unions-covered under the Railroad Retirement Act. GAO-10-351R

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most