PURPOSE: This rule provides the procedure for claiming a disability benefit as authorized in sections 169.060, 169.070, and 169.075, RSMo.

1. (1) A member claiming disability retirement must file a written application for retirement with the board of trustees on a form provided by the board. If a member, because of physical or mental disability, is unable to make application for disability retirement, the written application may be completed by a guardian or trustee designated by a court and the completed application shall be accompanied by a certified copy of the court order designating the guardian or trustee.
2. (2) The board of trustees shall designate a medical adviser whose duty it shall be to assign applicants for disability benefits to physicians for examinations and reports.
3. (3) The board of trustees shall pay the fees of the examiners and shall pay the medical adviser a fee for each application.
4. (4) The medical adviser shall report to the board on the findings of the examining physicians and the board of trustees shall act on these findings.
5. (5) The recipient of disability benefits may be required to submit to periodic examinations until age sixty (60) by physicians selected and paid by the board, provided there shall not be more than two (2) examinations in any year. If the member fails to submit to a periodic examination or provide the board of trustees with a completed Certification of Disability Status form, the member’s disability benefit shall be suspended until such certification of the member’s continued disability is received by the board of trustees.
6. (6) The payment of the first disability benefits to a member shall be made not later than the calendar month immediately following the month in which the claim is approved. The first payment after approval shall include any benefits which have accrued between the date of disability and the date of the first payment, provided, however, that payment shall not be made for such time as the member is receiving any salary from an employer; and provided, that benefits shall not accrue for more than sixty (60) days prior to the date of filing application.
7. (7) Any person who is receiving a disability retirement allowance from the retirement system and who has attained age sixty (60) may be employed in any capacity for, and receive income of any amount from, any employer except a school district included in the retirement system. Notwithstanding any provision of section 169.560, RSMo to the contrary, any such person may be employed in a district included in the retirement system on either a temporary-substitute or part-time basis without a discontinuance of the retirement allowance if such employment does not exceed either the limitation on hours worked or limitation on compensation set forth in section 169.560, RSMo, and 16 CSR 10- 5.010(6).
8. (8) Any person who is receiving a disability retirement allowance from the retirement system and who has not attained age sixty (60) may not be employed in any capacity by a district included in the retirement system and continue to receive the retirement allowance. Any such person may not be employed in any capacity for any other employer, the compen- 16 CSR 10-5

sation for which employment would constitute a livelihood, and continue to receive the retirement allowance. The executive director, and/or the board of trustees shall determine what constitutes a livelihood in such instance.

1. (9) The surviving spouse, children of a deceased disability retiree shall have the same rights to benefits under sections 169.070 and 169.075, RSMo as does the surviving spouse, children, or both, of a member who dies while teaching in a district included in the retirement system.

AUTHORITY: section 169.020, RSMo Supp. 2009.* Original rule filed Dec. 19, 1975, effective Jan. 1, 1976. Amended: Filed Aug. 11, 1977, effective Nov. 15, 1977. Amended: Filed Aug. 14, 1989, effective Nov. 11, 1989. Amended: Filed April 13, 1994, effective Sept. 30, 1994. Amended: Filed July 31, 1995, effective Feb. 25, 1996. Amended: Filed Aug. 9, 1999, effective Feb. 29, 2000. Amended: Filed Sept. 1, 2005, effective Feb. 28, 2006. Amended: Filed Jan. 4, 2010, effective July 1, 2010. *Original authority: 169.020, RSMo 1945, amended 1951, 1953, 1967, 1973, 1983, 1990, 1995, 1996, 1998, 2005, 2009.