The RR Act of 1974 restructured the RR system to assure its long-term actuarial soundness.
It represented a major change in the relationship and coordination of RR and SS benefits.
The most significant change for the SSA was the certification, under certain conditions,
of SS benefits to the RRB rather than to Treasury. When the SSA certifies payment
to the RRB, the RRB offsets the tier I annuity amount to account for entitlement to
SS benefits and pays a single combined benefit check.
In certain cases, the SSA certifies SS benefits to the RRB even when the claimant
is not concurrently entitled to a RR annuity, but is potentially eligible for a future
annuity. In such cases, the claimant receives only the full SS benefit certified to
the RRB, which in turn the RRB certifies to Treasury for payment.
NOTE: Prior to 1975, a person entitled to benefits under both RR and SS received two checks,
one from each agency, even though there was a limited SS offset in effect at that
time.