Background

This transmittal amends section I-5-6-2 of the Hearings, Appeals and Litigation Law (HALLEX) manual to update instructions for processing redeterminations of certain cases adjudicated in the Huntington, West Virginia hearing office.

Explanation of Content and Changes

We made the following changes to HALLEX I-5-6-2:

I-5-6-2 – To more clearly distinguish the differences between pending and redetermined cases, we removed all instructions relating to pending cases and put the pending case instructions in new HALLEX I-5-6-2A. We made numbering changes to correspond with the removal of this information. We made minor technical corrections and edits throughout the section. We added instruction in the hearing level instruction for developing evidence, when appropriate, and for handling subsequent applications, consistent with other redetermination instructions. We also clarified that an administrative law judge (ALJ) must issue a new decision, even when a beneficiary does not appear at the time and place of the scheduled hearing and circumstances would generally warrant a dismissal action. We also added a new subsection to address how an ALJ handles representative fee issues when redetermining a claim.

Date: September 23, 2015