Background

This transmittal amends section I-3-1-10 of the Hearings, Appeals and Litigation Law (HALLEX) manual by removing obsolete information and providing Appeals Council instructions for adjudicating issues relating to medical experts, vocational experts, and consultative examiners.

Explanation of Content and Changes

HALLEX I-3-1-10 – We retitled the section, “Disqualification and Referrals of Medical Experts, Vocational Experts, or Consultative Examiners” and removed obsolete information previously included in the section.

HALLEX I-3-1-10 A – We added a subsection titled “Notification of a Disqualification From Disability Determination Services” and included information about disqualified consultative examiners.

HALLEX I-3-1-10 B – We added a new subsection titled “Claimant Alleges Disqualification in Request for Review.” In the subsection, we explain how the Appeals Council will handle allegations of medical disqualification when adjudicating a particular case.

HALLEX I-3-1-10 C – We added a new subsection titled “AC Referrals of Medical Experts (ME), Vocational Experts (VE), or Consultative Examiners.” In the subsection, we explain how the Appeals Council may refer an expert to management if further consideration may be warranted and how management will handle the referral.

Date: July 18, 2014