The
Railroad Retirement Act is a Federal law that provides
retirement and disability annuities for qualified railroad
employees, spouse annuities for their wives or husbands, and
survivor benefits for the families of deceased employees who
were insured under the Act. These benefit programs are
administered by the U.S. Railroad Retirement Board. It
also administers the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act,
and has administrative responsibilities under the Social
Security Act for certain benefit payments and railroad
workers' Medicare coverage.
This
publication
describes the retirement and disability annuities provided
for employees under the Railroad Retirement Act, and the
benefits available to their spouses and survivors.
Medicare and unemployment-sickness insurance payments are
described in separate publications.
The information
in this publication supersedes earlier editions. If you
have any questions about the information covered in this
publication, or if you want one of the Railroad Retirement
Board's pamphlets on Medicare or unemployment and sickness
insurance benefits, contact one of the Board's field
offices. The personnel there will be glad to answer
your questions and explain your benefit rights. Cities
with these offices are listed at the back of this
publication.
See
U.S. Railroad Retirement Board Offices for a list of
cities with these offices.
In addition, a
toll-free Help Line is available at 1-800-808-0772, which
can be used to obtain the addresses and telephone numbers of
the Board's field offices. Employees can use the Help
Line to obtain statements of creditable service and
compensation, and beneficiaries on the rolls can use it to
request a letter showing their current monthly benefit rate
or secure a replacement Medicare card. Information on
unemployment-sickness benefits can also be obtained by using
the Help Line, which is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a
week.
Most of the
toll-free Help Line services are also available through the
Board's Web site at www.rrb.gov, which also includes
publications that may be downloaded. A new service
provides employee and spouse annuity estimates online, as
part of the Board's plan to allow the railroad public to
conduct its business with the agency online. The Web
site is in any case a source of information on railroad
retirement and unemployment-sickness benefits and the
Board's operations.
|