DISABILITY WITH IRON ROAD INSURANCE
Norm was an Engineer and sick with cancer. He started his chemo and slowly slipped into stage4 (Terminal). At this point, he quit working and concentrated on his treatment full time.  Norm was with Iron Road Insurance. When it comes to disability, who insures you is very important.  You must know the rules and stay within those rules to get your maximum benefit.
Norm had decided that he just wanted to get to 60 years of age and retire. He had over 400 months of service. Norm had stopped working at 58. He was running through the last of his sickness benefits and the last of his disability policies. As luck would have it, he would run out of his last benefit a month after he turned 60.  I brought up the idea that he needed to become disabled. Norm was more worried about his insurance than anything else. He knew that with Iron Road, once you retire at age 60, you have $500,000 in
benefits until you turn 65. He thought that pharmaceuticals were unlimited. He was told that at one time by a confused person at Iron Road.  I did some research and found that the $500,000 was for All Medical benefits. Since Norm was using over $300,000 a year in benefits, I encouraged him to get disabled. Here is why ...  Disability with Iron Road pays at 100% with a few co,-pays. The problem is it only lasts for 30 months. 6 months for free and then 24 months at $100 per month. But, once a person has been off for 29 months with a disability, they can apply for early Medicare. Stage 4 cancer will qualify him for early Medicare.  Iron Road Disability Policy:
Iron Road Health Changes its policies nearly every year on January l". A person is grandfathered Into the policy that is current during the time the disabled person pays their first $100 monthly payment.  For those who paid after 1·1·2020, here is the policy. 6 months for free. Then 24 months at $100 per month. Then nothing through Iron Road Health.
RRB DISABILITY RULES
A rail cannot apply for a disability Annuity until at least S months after the On Set of symptoms, and in no case can a rail apply for a disability while still working.  A disability annuity is figured the same way that a Railroad Retirement Annuity is figured. Tier 1 is based on the best 35 years of service. Tier 2 is based on the best 5 years of service. Once a Disability annuity
is granted, it will be paid at full value, so there are no age reductions on a disability annuity.  Disability Annuities will continue to receive a Cost of Living increase equal to what regular RR Retirement annuities receive every year.
A Disabled rail can work at "appropriate employment." The current maximum monthly amount that can be made is $1,020. Go over that monthly amount, and you lose your RRB annuity payment for the month.  Once a Rail is disabled, they are considered to be disabled until their full retirement age.
When a person is granted a disability annuity, they can usually apply for early Medicare 19 months after their onset date. Medicare is currently free for Par A and $148.50 for Part B. Medicare is obtained through an application to the RRB.  Back to Norm. Once he understood all the benefits of getting a Disablllty Annuity, I had him talk to the RRB to start the process. I sat down with Norm and helped him fill out the paperwork. It took about 4 hours to fill out the disability application and Occupational report.  We sent Norm's application to the Portland Office of the RRB on a Wednesday. It was faxed to the RRB on Friday. On Wednesday, a letter was drafted and sent to Norm granting his Disability annuity, and 15 days later, he received his first check of $40,000.  Why did this go so fast? Norm was terminal. He was 60 years old, and he had over 400 months of service. Usually, these types of disabilities go fast. But this is the fastest I have ever heard of. It can take
a year or more to get a Disability Annuity granted. Right now, the RRB is caught up, and things are moving rapidly. But the process is that an application goes to Chicago and is then scrutinized. Medical is the most important, and the UP saying a person cannot work is very important.
If Norm had waited and just retired at age 60, he would have run out of Insurance in less than 2 years.  He would have received his first $4500 retirement check at 60 and 1 month. Instead, we were able to show that Norm had an onset while he was still working. So the RRB could go back up to 12 months from the date that he filed and pay his $4500 per month. The date pay started is 5 months after the onset date. Sickness benefits were deducted, and he came out with a payday of $40,000.
Disability made the most sense for Norm. When a rail is getting ready to exit the Railroad, they need to talk to people who understand our benefits to get the best strategy for the end of their Railroading career.  A person needs to get Input from the RRB, Iron Road Health and United Health. Or you can start by talking to RRS as a benefit of your Union Membership!!  RRS will give you a Retirement/Disability Strategy meeting. If you wanted someone to help to fill out your paperwork, RRS would be more than happy to help with that for a fee. 
Fraternally Yours
Larry J. Romine
Reliable Retirement Solutions - 541-910-4568