Background

This transmittal amends the Hearings, Appeals and Litigation Law (HALLEX) manual Chapter I-2-9 for internal consistency within HALLEX of “new and material evidence.” These changes were necessary to clarify the criteria we use when evaluating “new and material evidence” in the context of reopening. We also made other minor editorial changes to the provision for internal consistency within HALLEX.

Explanation of Content and Changes

I-2-9-40 A. — We removed unnecessary language from the title. We modified the language to be consistent with the language in HALLEX I-3-9-4. We added a NOTE 1 to clarify differing procedures in Region I. We modified the language in the existing NOTE to include the information deleted from the title and renumbered it as NOTE 2. We inserted information previously in subsection D. We made several editorial changes for clarity.

I-2-9-40 B. — We modified the title and made editorial changes for consistency with HALLEX I-3-9-4. We added a NOTE under the “new and material” basis to clarify differing procedures in Region I. We changed the language in number 3 to mirror the regulatory language. We made editorial revisions to the language in the NOTE in subsection 3 for clarity and included hyperlinks to the cited Social Security Ruling (SSR) and Acquiescence Ruling (AR).

I-2-9-40 C. — We clarified the criteria necessary to satisfy the regulatory standard of “new and material evidence” for reopening and added a note defining the “weight of the evidence.” We added an additional example and made minor changes to the existing example to mirror the language in HALLEX I-3-9-4. We added a new subsection 2 “Effect of New and Material Evidence” for internal consistency with HALLEX I-3-9-4 and made other formatting and editorial changes to mirror the provisions.

I-2-9-40 D. — We moved the information previously in subsection D to subsection A. We inserted the information previously in subsection G to mirror the information in subsection C. We added a NOTE to clarify there is an exception to reopen at any time under title II because a determination or decision was fully or partially unfavorable to a claimant due to clerical error.

I-2-9-40 E. — We moved the information previously in subsection E to subsection F. We inserted the information previously in subsection H to mirror the information in subsection C. We made minor editorial changes and added a NOTE that explains there is an exception to reopen at time any under title II because a determination or decision was fully or partially unfavorable to a claimant due to error on the face of the evidence.

I-2-9-40 F. — We moved the information previously in subsection F to subsection G. We inserted the information previously in subsection E and made a minor editorial change to the title for consistency with HALLEX I-3-9-4. We removed unnecessary formatting and language.

I-2-9-40 G. — We moved the information previously in subsection G to subsection D. We inserted the information previously in subsection F. We modified the title and language to mirror HALLEX I-3-9-4.

I-2-9-40 H. — We moved the information previously in subsection H to subsection E and deleted the subsection.

Date: March 8, 2013