[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 51 (Thursday, March 16, 1995)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 14241-14242]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-6491]



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RAILROAD RETIREMENT BOARD

20 CFR Part 335

RIN: 3220-AB11


Sickness Benefits

AGENCY: Railroad Retirement Board.

ACTION: Proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: The Railroad Retirement Board (Board) hereby proposes to amend 
its regulations under the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act (RUIA) to 
permit a ``physician assistant-certified'' to execute a statement of 
sickness in support of payments of sickness benefits under the RUIA. 
The proposed rule would also eliminate certain obsolete language.

DATES: Comments must be submitted on or before April 17, 1995.

ADDRESSES: Secretary to the Board, Railroad Retirement Board, 844 Rush 
Street, Chicago, Illinois 60611.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Thomas W. Sadler, Assistant General Counsel, Railroad Retirement Board, 
844 Rush Street, Chicago, Illinois 60611, (312) 751-4513, TDD (312) 
751-4701, TDD (FTS (312) 386-4701).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 335.2(a)(2) provides that in order 
to be entitled to sickness benefits under the RUIA, a claimant must 
provide a ``statement of sickness''. Section 335.3(a) of the Board's 
regulations lists the individuals from whom the Board will accept a 
statement of sickness. That list does not currently include physician 
assistants. In many parts of the country, physician assistants are more 
accessible (and their services less expensive) than licensed medical 
doctors (MD's). Under present regulations, the Board will not accept a 
statement of sickness or supplemental statement of sickness from a 
physician assistant unless there is some followup verification that the 
physician assistant completed the statement under the supervision of an 
MD. This is administratively costly and in many cases unnecessarily 
delays payment of sickness benefits. Thus, the Board proposes to add 
``physician assistant-certified'' to its list of individuals from whom 
it will accept a statement of sickness.

    The Board also proposes to amend section 335.4(d)(5) of its 
regulations by deleting the first sentence of paragraph (d)(5), which 
relates to the filing of a statement of sickness by a female employee 
whose claim for sickness benefits is based upon pregnancy, miscarriage 
or childbirth. The special form required by paragraph (d)(5) is no 
longer used, since, for purposes of filing for sickness benefits, a 
distinction is no longer made between pregnancy, miscarriage or 
childbirth and other illnesses.
    The Board has determined that this is not a major rule for purposes 
of Executive Order 12866. Therefore, no regulatory analysis is 
required. The [[Page 14242]] information collections contemplated by 
this part have been approved by the Office of Management and Budget 
under control number 3220-0039.

List of Subjects in 20 CFR Part 335

    Railroad employees, Railroad sickness benefits.

    For the reasons set out in the preamble, title 20, chapter II of 
the Code of Federal Regulations is amended as follows:

PART 335--SICKNESS BENEFITS

    1. The authority citation for part 335 continues to read as 
follows:

    Authority: 45 U.S.C. 362(i) and 362(l).

    2. Section 335.3(a) is amended by removing ``or'' at the end of 
paragraph (a)(6) of this section, by replacing the period at the end of 
paragraph (a)(7) of this section with ``; or'', and by adding a new 
paragraph (a)(8) to read as follows:


Sec. 335.3  Execution of statement of sickness and supplemental 
doctor's statement.

    (a) Who may execute. * * *
* * * * *
    (8) A physician assistant-certified (PAC)
* * * * *


Sec. 335.4  [Amended]

    3. Section 335.4(d)(5) is amended by removing the first sentence of 
section 335.4(d)(5).

    Dated: March 7, 1995.

    By Authority of the Board.
Beatrice Ezerski,
Secretary to the Board.
[FR Doc. 95-6491 Filed 3-15-95; 8:45 am]
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