Background

This transmittal amends section I-2-8-35 of the Hearings, Appeals and Litigation Law (HALLEX) manual to update instructions for issuing hearing decisions when the record includes evidence that is potentially detrimental to a claimant's health. These updates were necessary for consistency with recent changes to HALLEX I-3-8-10 A.

Explanation of Content and Changes

This transmittal revises I-2-8-35 as follows:

I-2-8-35 – We retitled the section “Decision When Record Includes Evidence That is Potentially Detrimental to a Claimant's Health.”

I-2-8-35 A – We made language changes for consistency with HALLEX I-3-8-10 A.

I-2-8-35 B – We updated our procedures to explain that if a decision might have a detrimental effect on the claimant's health and the claimant has an appointed representative, the administrative law judge (ALJ) may elect to send a copy of the decision only to the representative. We also explain that when an ALJ sends a decision only to the representative, the ALJ must inform the claimant and advise the representative to exercise discretion in deciding whether to show the claimant the decision.

I-2-8-35 C – We updated our procedures to clarify that an ALJ must send the decision to the claimant when he or she is unrepresented, even if the decision might have a detrimental effect on the claimant's health.

Date: July 25, 2014