45 U.S.C. § 231r — Automatic benefit eligibility requirement adjustments

submitted 91 years ago by Pub. L. 93-445 to r/title-45-RAILROADS · 1,049 words · no verdicts yet

in plain englishAI-generated · not legal advice

If Congress makes it easier to qualify for Social Security benefits after 1974, this section automatically extends those easier rules to railroad retirement annuities. It does the same when Social Security adds new kinds of beneficiaries or expands health benefits. But strict limits stop people from collecting twice for the same work.

(a) Reduced benefits. If Title II of the Social Security Act is amended after December 31, 1974, to make it easier to qualify for old-age, disability, wife's, husband's, child's, widow's, widower's, mother's, or parent's insurance benefits, the Railroad Retirement Board must apply those same easier rules to annuities under section 231a — but only to the extent they give someone entitlement they would not otherwise have. Two limits apply. First, no annuity is paid if the person fails some other eligibility rule under section 231a that has no counterpart in the Social Security Act as it stood on December 31, 1974, or that existed then but was not the rule Congress loosened. Second, the annuity amount a person gets this way is set only by the formulas in section 231b(a), 231c(a), or 231c(f), as applicable. (b) Additional eligible beneficiaries. If Title II of the Social Security Act is amended after December 31, 1974, to cover an entirely new class of beneficiaries who were not covered before January 1, 1975, then every member of that new class becomes entitled to an annuity under section 231a, following Board regulations. The amount equals what that person would have received under the Social Security Act if the employee's railroad service after December 31, 1936, had counted as "employment" under that Act. (c) Reduced conditions of entitlement; expanded benefits. If section 226 or Title XVIII of the Social Security Act (Medicare) is amended after December 31, 1974, to make qualifying easier or to expand benefits, or if any other law adds new health care benefits or benefits in place of those, then those improvements apply to every employee as defined in this subchapter, and to their dependents, exactly as if the employee's railroad service after December 31, 1936, had counted as Social Security "employment." The Board has the same authority to decide who among employees with ten or more years of service (or five or more years entirely after 1995), and their dependents, gets these benefits as the Secretary of Health and Human Services has for ordinary Social Security beneficiaries. (d) Limitations. Despite subsections (a), (b), and (c): (1) No annuity or other benefit is payable under (a), (b), or (c) if it would duplicate a benefit already payable to that same person, based on the same work and years of service, under a Social Security Act provision — or any other federal law — that took effect after December 31, 1974. (2) No annuity is payable under (a) or (b) unless the worker on whose record it is based completed ten years of service (or five or more years entirely after 1995), and, if the claim is by a survivor, the worker had a current connection with the railroad industry when they died. (3) If the Social Security Act is later amended to drop its rule against collecting more than one monthly benefit at a time, then certain annuity amounts under sections 231b(h), 231c(e), or 231c(h) — or under specific sections of Title II — are reduced, but never below zero, by the amount of any new annuity that person gets under this subchapter because of that amendment. (4) If a benefit payable under (a), (b), or (c) duplicates a benefit already payable to that same person under some other part of this subchapter, the other benefit is reduced — but never below zero — by the amount of the (a), (b), or (c) benefit.

the actual law source: uscode.house.gov ↗public domain

(a) Reduced benefits

If title II of the Social Security Act [42 U.S.C. 401 et seq.] is amended at any time after December 31, 1974, to reduce the eligibility requirements for old-age insurance benefits, disability insurance benefits, wife’s insurance benefits payable to a wife, husband’s insurance benefits, child’s insurance benefits payable to a child of a deceased individual, widow’s insurance benefits payable to a widow, widower’s insurance benefits, mother’s insurance benefits payable to a widow, or parent’s insurance benefits, such reduced eligibility requirements shall be applicable, in accordance with regulations prescribed by the Board, to individuals, spouses, or survivors, as the case may be, under section 231a of this title to the extent that such reduced eligibility requirements would provide such individuals, spouses, or survivors with entitlement to annuities under such section 231a of this title to which they would not be entitled except for such reduced eligibility requirements: Provided, however, That no annuity shall be paid to any person pursuant to the provisions of this subsection if that person does not satisfy an eligibility requirement imposed by section 231a of this title of a kind not imposed by the Social Security Act [42 U.S.C. 301 et seq.] on December 31, 1974, or an eligibility requirement imposed by section 231a of this title of a kind which was imposed by the Social Security Act on December 31, 1974, but which was not reduced by the amendment to that Act: Provided further, That the annuity amounts to which such individuals, spouses, or survivors will be entitled under this subchapter by reason of the provisions of this subsection shall be only such amounts as are determined under the provisions of section 231b(a), 231c(a), or 231c(f), respectively, of this title.

(b) Additional eligible beneficiaries

If title II of the Social Security Act [42 U.S.C. 401 et seq.] is amended at any time after December 31, 1974, to provide monthly insurance benefits under that Act to a class of beneficiaries not entitled to such benefits thereunder prior to January 1, 1975, every person who is a member of such class of beneficiaries shall be entitled to annuities under section 231a of this title, in accordance with regulations prescribed by the Board, in an amount equal to the amount of the monthly insurance benefit to which such person would have been entitled under the Social Security Act [42 U.S.C. 301 et seq.] if service as an employee after December 31, 1936, had been included in the term “employment” as defined in that Act.

If section 226 [42 U.S.C. 426] or title XVIII [42 U.S.C. 1395 et seq.] of the Social Security Act is amended at any time after December 31, 1974, to reduce the conditions of entitlement to, or to expand the nature of, the benefits payable thereunder, or if health care benefits in addition to, or in lieu of, the benefits payable under such section 226 or such title XVIII are provided by any provision of law which becomes effective at any time after December 31, 1974, such reductions in the conditions of entitlement to benefits, such expanded benefits, or such additional, or substituted, health care benefits shall be available to every employee (as defined in this subchapter), and those deriving from him, in the same manner, and to the same extent, as if his service as an employee after December 31, 1936, had been included in the term “employment” as defined in the Social Security Act [42 U.S.C. 301 et seq.]. The Board shall have the same authority, in accordance with regulations prescribed by it, to determine the rights of employees who will have completed ten years of service (or five or more years of service, all of which accrues after December 31, 1995), and of those deriving from such employees, to benefits provided by reason of the provisions of this subsection as the Secretary of Health and Human Services has with respect to individuals insured under the Social Security Act.

(d) Limitations

Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections (a), (b), and (c) of this section—

(1)

No annuity or other benefit shall be payable to any person on the basis of the compensation and years of service of an individual by reason of the provisions of subsection (a), (b), or (c) of this section if, and to the extent that, such annuity or other benefit would duplicate a benefit payable to such person on the basis of such compensation and years of service under a provision of the Social Security Act [42 U.S.C. 301 et seq.], or any other Act of Congress, which becomes effective after December 31, 1974.

(2)

No annuity shall be payable to a person by reason of subsection (a) or (b) of this section unless the individual upon whose compensation and years of service such annuity would be based will have (A) completed ten years of service (or five or more years of service, all of which accrues after December 31, 1995), and (B) in the case of a survivor, had a current connection with the railroad industry at the time of his death.

(3)

If the Social Security Act [42 U.S.C. 301 et seq.] is amended after December 31, 1974, to remove any, or all, restriction on the receipt of more than one monthly insurance benefit thereunder, annuity amounts provided a person under section 231b(h), 231c(e), or 231c(h) of this title, or under section 204(a)(3), 204(a)(4), 206(3), or 207(3) of title II of this Act, shall be reduced (but not below zero) by the amount of any annuity provided such person under this subchapter by reason of such amendment.

(4)

If and to the extent that an annuity or other benefit payable to a person by reason of the provisions of subsection (a), (b), or (c) of this section duplicates an annuity or other benefit then payable to such person under other provisions of this subchapter, such annuity or other benefit then payable under other provisions of this subchapter shall be reduced (but not below zero) by the amount of the annuity or other benefit payable by reason of subsection (a), (b), or (c).

Source credit: (Aug. 29, 1935, ch. 812, § 19, as restated June 24, 1937, ch. 382, pt. I, 50 Stat. 307, as restated Pub. L. 93–445, title I, § 101, Oct. 16, 1974, 88 Stat. 1350; amended Pub. L. 96–88, title V, § 509(b), Oct. 17, 1979, 93 Stat. 695; Pub. L. 107–90, title I, § 103(h), Dec. 21, 2001, 115 Stat. 881.)

history & why it existsrecord from the source credit

1935Enacted · Pub. L. 93-445 · 50 Stat. 307
1979Amended · Pub. L. 96-88 · 93 Stat. 695
2001Amended · Pub. L. 107-90 · 115 Stat. 881

A history note hasn’t been published yet. The record shows enactment by Pub. L. 93-445 on 1935-08-29.

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