Richard Lopez would receive specified disability pension benefits

The Boston Retirement Board would pay Richard Lopez an accidental-disability pension based on the regular firefighter pay rate for his former grade. This applies to Richard Lopez, a retired Boston firefighter who became totally and permanently unable to perform a firefighter’s essential duties because of injuries suffered on June 10, 2006. The pension would continue until his death or the mandatory retirement age for Boston firefighters, whichever comes first. His earnings could be combined with his pension up to one-half of the pension amount without a refund penalty. At the mandatory retirement age, his pension would be 80 percent of the compensation rate he received immediately before reaching that age. The Boston Retirement Board would fund and administer the benefits under Chapter 32. The act would take effect when passed, and the pension rules would apply from that point subject to the stated age and death limits.

The Boston Retirement Board would pay Lopez’s accumulated retirement deductions and cover eligible medical-related expenses. Medical coverage would apply to hospital, medical, and related expenses incurred after his retirement because of his June 10, 2006, duty-related injuries. Medical payments would follow sections 100 and 100B of Chapter 41. The accumulated deductions would be paid as credited on the act’s effective date. The accumulated deductions would be paid after the act takes effect, while eligible medical expenses may include costs incurred after Lopez’s retirement.

The retirement board would pay a continuing survivor annuity to Lopez’s qualifying spouse and, in some cases, to eligible children. The spouse must be married to Lopez at his retirement and still married to him when he dies; eligible children may be under 18, permanently unable to earn because of a physical or mental condition, or full-time students under 22. The spouse’s annuity would equal 75 percent of the pension otherwise payable to Lopez and would continue until the spouse’s death. If both Lopez and that spouse die before qualifying children reach 18, payments would pass equally by family branch to surviving eligible children. Payments are subject to section 103 of Chapter 32. Spouse payments would begin after Lopez’s death if the stated marriage and survival conditions are met; child payments would apply after both Lopez and that spouse have died.