I-3-6-51. Notifying Claimant of Own Motion Review

A. General

When the Appeals Council reviews an ALJ's action on its own motion, procedural due process requires that the Council give the claimant and representative, if any, notice of the review, the reasons for such action, and an opportunity to submit additional evidence and written statements, before the Appeals Council issues its decision or remand order. The Council also provides an opportunity to request an appearance before the Council and where appropriate an opportunity to request further consideration by an ALJ.

B. Prior Own Motion Notice Not Required

Prior notice is not required when the Appeals Council reviews a case on its own motion for the purpose of issuing a fully favorable decision. Because the Council notifies the claimant of the own motion review in the decision, no purpose would be served by delaying the issuance of a fully favorable decision.

C. Own Motion Notices

1. The analyst will prepare, in OQA Referral cases, the Results Form as well as a recommendation document in effectuating component protest and National Random Sample cases.. The analyst will also prepare a letter (i.e., own motion notice) to the claimant and representative, if appropriate, advising them of the reasons for own motion review and of their rights.

2. Refer to the Appeals Text Guide for own motion notices and stored paragraphs, which may be completed or modified as necessary. In addition, see I-3-6-55 for procedures to be followed in interim disability benefit (“8001”) cases and I-3-9-35 regarding Title XVI cases in current payment status.

D. Typing and Proofreading

The analyst will:

1. prepare the own motion notice;

2. proofread the typed document and, if it is accurate;

3. forward the file with the own motion notice, Own Motion Review Data Sheet (and Results Form, if appropriate) and supplemental analysis, if necessary, to the Appeals Council for approval.