The life of an application continues based on a timely appeal, or if good cause is
established for late filing of an appeal request, but only through the date of the
administrative law judge (ALJ) decision. The life of an application also continues
when it is remanded to an ALJ by the Appeals Council (AC) or court. (See SI 00601.020A.2. for establishing a protective filing based on a request for AC review and DI 12045.027 when a new claim is filed while an appeal is pending before the ALJ or AC.) The appeal
information must be annotated on the Supplemental Security Record (SSR) to keep the
record current.
EXAMPLE 1: Mary Sullivan filed an application on 10/17. She had excess resources in October
and on 11/1. The FO made the systems input to deny her claim on 11/2. The life of
her application would have ended on 11/2, however, Ms. Sullivan filed a timely request
for reconsideration on 12/3. The life of her application continued based on her timely
request for reconsideration. The FO made the reconsideration determination 12/13 and
determined that she had excess resources in October and November but that her resources
were below the limit as of 12/1. The FO made the systems input on 12/14 to pay Ms.
Sullivan SSI benefits beginning 1/1 based on the 10/17 application.
EXAMPLE 2: Sally Johnson filed a SSI application on 9/5. She was determined not disabled. The
DDS made the systems input on 10/30, denying her claim. The life of her application
would have ended 10/30, but Ms. Johnson appealed the initial SSA determination. The
reconsideration determination of 11/10 and a subsequent ALJ decision of 4/2 affirmed
the initial determination that Ms. Johnson was not disabled. The life of her application
continued based on her timely appeal but only through 4/2, the date of the ALJ decision.
She requested AC review on 4/4. The AC decided that Ms. Johnson was disabled as of
9/5. Since the AC decision reversed the ALJ decision, she is eligible for SSI benefits
continuously from 9/5 because she was found disabled as of a date before 4/2, the
date the life of her application ended.
EXAMPLE 3: Same as Example 2 except that on 4/4 Ms. Johnson submits new evidence with her request
for AC review. The new evidence shows that she was disabled as of 4/4. Because the
onset of her disability came after the date the life of her application ended (4/2),
her request for AC review (4/4) constitutes a protective filing for a new application.