Public Affairs | RRB.Gov

Q&A: Acting for Impaired Railroad Retirement Annuitants

According to Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) policy, every annuitant has the right to manage his or her own benefits. However, when physical or mental impairments make a railroad retirement annuitant incapable of properly handling benefit payments, or where the RRB determines that the interests of the annuitant so require, the agency can appoint a representative payee to act on the annuitant's behalf. A representative payee may be either a person or an organization selected by the RRB to receive benefits on behalf of an annuitant.

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Q&A: Railroad Retirement Service Credits and Pay for Time Lost

The Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) frequently receives questions from railroad employers, employees, and employees' legal advisors about the RRB's treatment of pay for time lost in retirement cases. The most common type of pay for time lost situation arises out of personal injury settlements. Other types include dismissal allowances, guaranteed wages, displacement allowances paid for loss of earnings resulting from the employee being placed in a position or occupation paying less money, and reinstatement awards which include back pay.

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Q&A: RRB Reports Performance Under Customer Service Plan

The Railroad Retirement Board’s (RRB) Customer Service Plan promotes quality public service through its establishment of timeliness standards that dictate how long it should take the RRB to decide to pay or deny an application for a railroad retirement annuity or unemployment or sickness benefit. An important part of the plan is its pledge to inform the public about how well the agency meets those timeliness standards.

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Q&A: Medicare for Railroad Families

The federal Medicare program provides hospital and medical insurance protection for railroad workers and their families, just as it does for workers under social security. Medicare has the following parts:

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2025 Medicare Part B Premiums and Deductibles Will Increase

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has announced that the standard monthly Part B premium will be $185.00 in 2025, an increase of $10.30 from $174.70 in 2024. However, some Medicare beneficiaries may pay less than this amount because, by law, Part B premiums for current enrollees cannot increase by more than the amount of the cost-of-living adjustment for social security (railroad retirement tier I) benefits. The annual deductible for all Medicare Part B enrollees in 2025 will be $257, an increase of $17 from the 2024 deductible of $240.

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RRB to Begin Withholding Medicare Parts C and D Premiums

Beginning with the premiums due for June 2011, the U.S. Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) will be able to withhold premiums for Medicare Part C (Medicare Advantage Plans) and Medicare Part D (prescription drug plans) from benefit payments. Beneficiaries should contact their plans to request withholding of these premiums from their monthly benefit payments.

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RRB Scores Well with Railroad Employers

The U.S. Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) earned a score of 77 in a recent survey of railroad employers on their dealings with the agency, utilizing the science of the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) survey. The study covered the employers' direct contact with agency personnel, along with various forms of electronic communication. This was the first time that railroad employer satisfaction had been surveyed by the RRB, and the score of 77 compares very favorably with the overall ACSI score of 64 for the federal government.

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RRB Names Director of Legislative Affairs/Legislative Counsel

The U.S. Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) has appointed Beverly Britton Fraser as Director of Legislative Affairs/Legislative Counsel. The appointment was effective April 18, 2016.

She replaces Director of Legislative Affairs Margaret Lindsley, who retired in February 2016 after more than 35 years of RRB service.

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RRB Labor Member Appoints Two Assistants

The Labor Member of the U.S. Railroad Retirement Board (RRB), Walter A. Barrows, has selected Michele L. Neuendorf and Mark L. Thomson to serve in the capacity of Assistant to the Labor Member. The appointments became effective March 9, 2015.

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RRB Management Member Appoints Marx as Assistant

Natasha Marx has been named as a staff assistant by the Management Member of the U.S. Railroad Retirement Board (RRB), Steven J. Anthony. At the time of her appointment, Ms. Marx was an auditor in the agency's Office of Inspector General (OIG).

In her new position, Ms. Marx will advise and assist the Management Member in reviewing fiscal and policy matters, information technology initiatives and legislative proposals related to administration of the RRB and its benefits programs.

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