Current through Register Vol. 54, No. 45, November 9, 2024
Section 215.5 - Duties of the Board(a)Application, elections and disability annuities. Duties of the Board regarding applications and elections of members and disability annuities include the following:(1) Subsequent to the receipt of an application for a disability annuity based on physical and mental incapacity for the performance of a job for which the member is employed, the Board will, through its chief medical examiner, and other medical examiners it may engage, cause the applicant to be examined. On the basis of the medical evidence submitted, a recommendation shall be submitted to the Board stating whether a disability should be granted, together with a report as to the permanency of the disability or the need for periodic examinations as well as the time interval for the examinations. The Board will also establish an effective date of disability which shall be the day following the last day of compensation.(2) A disability applicant who is required by the Board to furnish additional medical documentation to support the application, shall provide the documentation within 30 days of the request, or the Board may render the disability application void.(3) The chief medical examiner, or other medical examiners the Board may engage, may recommend to the Board, on the basis of subsequent medical examinations, whether a disability annuitant should continue on disability or whether a finding of nondisability may be appropriate. In the latter event, the Board will establish the date of termination of disability, based on the recommendation of the medical examiner, whereupon the disability annuity shall be discontinued in excess of any annuity to which the member may be otherwise entitled under section 8342 of the Retirement Code (relating to maximum single life annuity).(4) If the Board denies a disability applicant for insufficient medical evidence, the applicant may still file, within 90 days after notification of the denial, an application to vest or take an annuity, if the applicant is eligible. The filing shall be considered timely, as of the original eligibility date, for the purposes of payment of other benefits or vesting, as the case may be.(5) A disability annuity may also be subject to a disability annuity adjustment depending upon the earned income of the annuitant, as provided in section 8505(c)(3) of the Retirement Code (relating to duties of board regarding applications and elections of members).(b)Refund to members. If the Board finds that a member is terminating service at the end of a school year intending to return the subsequent school year, following vacation periods, and to reinstate accumulated deductions, the Board may choose not to pay the deductions in the first instance. The Board may require certification from the employer that these events are not intended.(c)Payment of annuities. Payment of annuities shall include tax information required by the Internal Revenue Code.(d)Miscellaneous duties. Miscellaneous duties include the following: (1) If a member dies in service and is eligible for a death benefit, the Board will, within 60 days after receipt of the necessary data and death certificate, pay the death benefit to the designated beneficiary or survivor annuitant, as the case may be.(2) If the Board receives notification from an insurance carrier approved by the Board that an annuitant has elected appropriate hospitalization insurance coverage, the Board will deduct from the annuity payments the appropriate monthly installment and forward the deduction to the particular insurance carrier at times as the Board and carrier mutually agree.(3) In cases of doubt, the Board will determine whether any person is a school employee within the meaning of the Retirement Code. The Board will also determine whether a person is an independent contractor or a person compensated on a fee basis upon review of all the circumstances surrounding the employment of the person seeking membership in the program.(e)Retirement Code reference: Section 8505 of the Retirement Code.The provisions of this §215.5 amended October 16, 1998, effective 10/17/1998, 28 Pa.B. 5226; amended August 1, 2008, effective 8/2/2008, 38 Pa.B. 4083.