|
It is assumed that you are either a current or former
railroad worker or that you are a person who has applied
for benefits on the earnings of a railroad worker.
Obtaining records about yourself is easy. No special forms
are necessary. All you need to do is send a letter describing
what records you want. Please be as specific as possible.
If you want a statement of the number of months of railroad
service and compensation reported to the Railroad Retirement
Board (RRB) by your railroad employer(s), send your letter
to:
The Director of the Employee Service Center
Office of Programs
Railroad Retirement Board
844 N. Rush St.
Chicago, IL 60611-2092.
For all other types of records send your letter to the
Director of Operations, Office of Programs. In all cases,
be sure to include your social security number if you are
the railroad employee. If you are not the railroad worker
(e.g. you are the spouse or widow), include the social security
number of the railroad worker.
If you are not sure how to describe the records you want,
feel free to call the RRB
field office nearest you for help.
If you have applied for an annuity under the Railroad Retirement
and are not sure what records you want, we can arrange for
your claim file to be sent to the field
office nearest you. You can then review it there and
have copies made of the documents in the folder that you
want. Most paper records are filed in the worker's claim
file.
Medical
records
Special rules apply to medical records: These can be summarized
as follows:
- If we have denied your application for disability benefits
and you ask for your medical records to contest our decision,
we will furnish them to you.
- In all other cases, we will first have our medical
staff examine them to determine whether their release
to you might be harmful to you. If our medical staff thinks
their release might be harmful to you, we will ask that
you furnish us with the name and address of a physician
of your choice. We will then release the medical records
to this physician who can then review the records with
you and release them to you if in his professional judgment
the release would be warranted. In the majority of cases,
medical records are released directly to the requester.
- With the exception of the special case where we release
the records to your designated physician and when you
request your medical records to contest our denial of
your claim for benefits, we must release your medical
records directly to you, even if you request us to furnish
them to a third party, such as an attorney. Once you receive
the records, you are free, of course, to give them to
whoever you wish. This procedure, which we admit might
be an inconvenience to you, is a requirement of the laws
we administer.
Fees
We do not send the original records to you. For paper documents,
we send photocopies. The cost is 10 cents a copy, and covers
only the actual cost of reproduction. However, we do not
charge for costs of $10.00 or less; thus, the first 100
pages are free.
Records
and Information
Written requests are not required for general information
and may not be necessary for certain kinds of personal information.
If you seek general information, you might well find it
elsewhere right here on the RRB's web site. If you don't
find what you are looking for, you can call the field office
nearest you.
Likewise, if you want information about yourself, call
the field office nearest you. Information about yourself
would include: requests for annuity estimates, status of
retirement checks, explanations of changes in payment amounts
or benefit information in letters we send you.
|
