Last Update: 1/13/2016 (Transmittal I-3-128)
HA 01310.030 Requests to Escalate
a Claim to the Appeals Council
Renumbered from HALLEX section I-3-1-30
In some cases, a claimant may have a claim pending before
the Appeals Council (AC) and a different claim pending at another
administrative level. Occasionally, the AC will receive a request
from another component to escalate and consolidate the two claims
when they appear to involve a common issue (as defined in Program
Operations Manual System (POMS) DI 12045.010). Because a
claimant has a right to a hearing on his or her claim, the AC generally cannot
accept escalated claims and will reject these requests, even when
it appears the claims involve a common issue.
When adjudicating the claim before
it, the AC will handle the subsequent application by using its usual
procedures, as set forth in Hearings, Appeals and Litigation Law
(HALLEX) manual HA 01195.000.
In the unusual circumstance the
claimant submits the request to escalate and consolidate claims
at the AC level, the receiving branch will consult with the Deputy Chair
or designee of the AC. Generally, escalating and consolidating at the
request of a claimant would require that the AC obtain a written
waiver of the right to a hearing (ensuring the record documents
that the claimant was fully informed of the effects of waiving that
right), or that the AC conduct a hearing under the authority in 20 CFR 404.956 or 416.1456.
Similarly, the AC occasionally receives requests that it only
review one title of a partially favorable concurrent decision. As
explained in HALLEX HA 01340.003 A NOTE 1 and POMS DI 51501.001G, the AC considers
the entire administrative law judge decision on review, not just the
portions with which a claimant disagrees.