61.607 Maximum disability benefit -- Determination -- Combined payments not
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/ky/61-607A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
increased as a result of legislation -- Annual report by disability recipient. Notwithstanding any other provisions of KRS 16.505 to 16.652 or 61.510 to 61.705, a maximum disability benefit is hereby established which shall apply, upon disability retirement, to any disabled employee's account to which service credit is added to determine disability benefits or in any case where disability benefits are determined by computing a percentage of the disabled employee's final monthly rate of pay or monthly average pay. The maximum disability benefit shall be determined by the following formula:
(1)Add the monthly benefit payable to the disabled employee from the Kentucky
Retirement Systems and the County Employees Retirement System, using the
monthly disability retirement allowance without any reduction due to the selection
of an optional payment plan under KRS 61.635 but excluding dependent children's
allowances, if any, to his or her monthly benefit, if any, from Social Security, even
though these payments may not begin for a period of time as required for
qualification under the federal Social Security law, excluding spouse or dependent
benefits, and his or her monthly benefit, if any, from workers' compensation, even
though these payments may not have begun as of the date the disabled member
applies for disability retirement benefits, excluding spouse or dependent children's
allowances, from workers' compensation, to arrive at a projected combined monthly
benefit.
(2)If the projected combined monthly benefit exceeds one hundred percent (100%) of
the disabled employee's final rate of pay or his or her final compensation, whichever
is greater, his or her disability retirement allowance from the Kentucky Retirement
Systems and the County Employees Retirement System shall be reduced to an
amount which would cause his or her projected combined monthly benefit to equal
one hundred percent (100%) of his or her final rate of pay or his or her final
compensation, whichever is greater; however, the disability retirement allowance
shall not be reduced below an amount which would result from a computation of his
or her disability retirement allowance from the Kentucky Retirement Systems and
the County Employees Retirement System using the disabled employee's actual total
service.
(3)The system may pay estimated benefits to a disabled employee, upon qualification
for disability retirement, based on an estimate of his or her Social Security and
workers' compensation benefits until the amounts are actually determined, at which
time a final calculation of the member's actual benefits shall be determined and his
or her account corrected retroactive to his or her effective retirement date.
(4)Any increase in Social Security benefits or workers' compensation benefits which
becomes law, regardless of their effective date, subsequent to the disabled
employee's effective retirement date, shall not be considered in determination of the
maximum benefit payable, as the maximum benefit payable is based on the amount
of combined benefits under these programs as of the disabled employee's effective
retirement date.
(5)Any disabled recipient whose potential payments from the system were reduced as
provided for in this section shall advise the Authority if his or her payments under
the Federal Social Security Act or Workers' Compensation Act cease at any time
subsequent to his or her effective retirement date. Upon investigation, if the system
determines that the disabled recipient continues to be eligible for disability benefits,
the system may increase his or her retirement allowance by adding to his or her
payment an amount equal to the reduction applied upon the effective retirement date
in accordance with subsection
(2)of this section.
(6)The amount of combined disability benefit payments made to an individual on or
after April 1, 2021, from the Kentucky Retirement Systems or the County
Employees Retirement System shall not be increased as a result of the passage of
2021 Ky. Acts ch. 102.
(7)Subsequent to his or her effective retirement date, each disability recipient who is
still eligible to receive disability payments based upon a total and permanent
disability that occurred as a direct result of an act in line of duty as defined in KRS
16.505 or a disablement that occurred as a result of a duty-related injury as defined
in KRS 61.621, shall annually file on a form or via an electronic method established
by the Authority, information on whether payments to the recipient have ceased or
began under the federal Social Security Act or Workers' Compensation Act and the
Authority shall make any necessary adjustments as provided by this section.