FROM: Barbara Hannah, Chief Counsel
SUBJECT: Disability Retirement Procedures
RECOMMENDATION:
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Approve the proposed changes to the Procedures for Disability Retirement Applications and Formal Hearings.
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BACKGROUND:
SBCERA adopted the Procedures for Disability Retirement Applications and Formal Hearings ("Rules") to govern the disability retirement process. Since the last update in November 2019, there are matters that have arisen which are not addressed in the Rules and specific Rules that require an update.
Attached as Exhibit A is a redlined version of the Rules which incorporates the substantive edits as follows:
1. Rule 1 - Definitions:
In the current version of the Rules, there are terms used throughout the document or on forms provided to an Applicant that are not defined. It was important for staff to have a definition for commonly used terms, as well as have definitions drafted in a way that an Applicant could easily understand. As part of the update to Rule 1, staff added several terms. In addition, the proposed change assigns definitions to those terms. Also, a helpful indicator to the reader is capitalizing defined terms throughout the document. Along with capitalizing the letters, the terms are in alphabetical order for ease of reference.
2. Rule 4 (a)(2) - Attending or Forensic Physician's Report:
Rule 4 requires an Applicant to submit a Physician's Report completed by a medical doctor or doctor of osteopathy or doctorate level psychologist. However, when an Applicant has submitted a Physician's Report completed by a doctor of podiatric medicine (DPM), staff rejects the Application on the grounds that a DPM is not specifically listed in the Rules as a doctor authorized to complete a Physician's Report. Given that a DPM is a qualified physician or surgeon capable of rendering an assessment of a member's incapacity, staff agrees that a DPM should be added to the list of acceptable licensed professionals to comp...
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