[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 20, Volume 1]
[Revised as of April 1, 2007]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 20CFR220.45]

[Page 270-271]
 
                      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 271]]

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)