[Code of Federal Regulations]

[Title 20, Volume 1]

[Revised as of April 1, 2005]

From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access

[CITE: 20CFR220.45]



[Page 268-269]

 

                      TITLE 20--EMPLOYEES' BENEFITS

 

                  CHAPTER II--RAILROAD RETIREMENT BOARD

 

PART 220_DETERMINING DISABILITY--Table of Contents

 

                    Subpart F_Evidence of Disability

 

Sec.  220.45  Providing evidence of disability.





    (a) General. The claimant for a disability annuity is responsible 

for providing evidence of the claimed disability and the effect of the 

disability on the ability to work. The Board will assist the claimant, 

when necessary, in obtaining the required evidence. At its discretion, 

the Board will arrange for an examination by a consultant at the



[[Page 269]]



expense of the Board as explained in Sec. Sec.  220.50 and 220.51.

    (b) Kind of evidence. The claimant must provide medical evidence 

showing that he or she has an impairment(s) and how severe it is during 

the time the claimant claims to be disabled. The Board will consider 

only impairment(s) the claimant claims to have or about which the Board 

receives evidence. Before deciding that the claimant is not disabled, 

the Board will develop a complete medical history (i.e., evidence from 

the records of the claimant's medical sources) covering at least the 

preceding 12 months, unless the claimant says that his or her disability 

began less than 12 months before he or she filed an application. The 

Board will make every reasonable effort to help the claimant in getting 

medical reports from his or her own medical sources when the claimant 

gives the Board permission to request them. Every reasonable effort 

means that the Board will make an initial request and, after 20 days, 

one follow-up request to the claimant's medical source to obtain the 

medical evidence necessary to make a determination before the Board 

evaluates medical evidence obtained from another source on a 

consultative basis. The medical source will have 10 days from the 

follow-up request to reply (unless experience indicates that a longer 

period is advisable in a particular case). In order to expedite 

processing the Board may order a consultative exam from a non-treating 

source while awaiting receipt of medical source evidence. If the Board 

ask the claimant to do so, he or she must contact the medical sources to 

help us get the medical reports. The Board may also ask the claimant to 

provide evidence about his or her--

    (1) Age;

    (2) Education and training;

    (3) Work experience;

    (4) Daily activities both before and after the date the claimant 

says that he or she became disabled;

    (5) Efforts to work; and

    (6) Any other evidence showing how the claimant's impairment(s) 

affects his or her ability to work. (In Sec. Sec.  220.125 through 

220.134, we discuss in more detail the evidence the Board needs when it 

considers vocational factors.)



(Approved by the Office of Management and Budget under control numbers 

3220-0002, 3220-0030, 3220-0106 and 3220-0141)