# 2026-16250: Railroad Retirement: Our Disability Rule Was Straight-Up Illegal!

2026-16250, Determining Disability, is a Federal Register rule from Railroad Retirement Board published 2026-08-10, effective 2026-09-09; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-08-17).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2026-16250
- As of: 2026-08-17
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Document number: 2026-16250
- Title: Determining Disability
- Type: Rule
- Agencies: Railroad Retirement Board
- Citation: 91 FR 51382
- Published: 2026-08-10
- Effective: 2026-09-09
- Comments close: not stated
- Significant: no
- Touches household money: yes
- Regulation identifier numbers: 3220-AB82
- Last updated: 2026-08-17

## In one line

Railroad Retirement: Our Disability Rule Was Straight-Up Illegal!

## Summary

The Railroad Retirement Board amends its regulations to update the amount of monthly allowable earnings for a disability annuitant to reflect the formula in section 2(e)(4) of the Railroad Retirement Act. The existing regulation is no longer consistent with the statutory formula in the Railroad Retirement Act for the maximum monthly allowable earnings for a disability annuitant and is therefore facially unlawful.

## Effects PRIA read

- Monthly/Annual Earnings Limits Indexed: benefit, medium. If you receive a Railroad Retirement disability annuity, the rule updates how the monthly allowable earnings amount is set using the statutory formula tied to the national average wage index. For calendar year 2026 the monthly allowable earnings limit is $1,320 and the annual allowable earnings lim…
- Annual Reporting Figure Corrected After 2026: mixed, low. The Board will stop including an extra one-half monthly amount in its reported annual allowable earnings figure and will correct notices and correspondence beginning with calendar year 2027. For 2026 the statutory annual amount is $15,840, though the Board historically reported $16,500 to reflect a…
- Reporting, Penalties, End-of-Year Deductions: cost, medium. If you receive a disability annuity you must report any work and earnings to the Board, and you must report earnings over the monthly allowable amount before accepting the annuity for the second month after the first month of excess. If you fail to report on time, the Board may deduct penalty amoun…

## Related documents

- [2026-16251](https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2026-16251): Jurisdiction Determinations, 2026-08-10
- [2026-14437](https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2026-14437): Proposed Collection; Comment Request, 2026-07-17
- [2026-12805](https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2026-12805): Civil Monetary Penalty Inflation Adjustment, 2026-06-25
- [2026-10206](https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2026-10206): Civil Monetary Penalty Inflation Adjustment, 2026-05-21
- [2026-10078](https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2026-10078): Annuity Beginning and Ending Dates, 2026-05-20
- [2026-06685](https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2026-06685): Actuarial Advisory Committee With Respect to the Railroad Retirement Account; Notice of Public Meeting, 2026-04-07

## Sources
- [2026-16250 on federalregister.gov](https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/08/10/2026-16250/determining-disability)
- [2026-16250 as published (PDF)](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2026-08-10/pdf/2026-16250.pdf)

## Related
- [Previous: 2026-16249, Amendment of United States Area Navigation Route T-373 in the Vicinity of King…](https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2026-16249)
- [Next: 2026-16251, Jurisdiction Determinations](https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2026-16251)
- [All Federal Register documents](https://policyrisk.com/federal-register)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2026-16250 (as of 2026-08-17).