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. They had excess resources in October
and on 11/1. The FO made the systems input to deny their claim on 11/2. The life of
their application would have ended on 11/2, however, Mary filed a timely request for
reconsideration on 12/3. The life of their application continued based on their timely
request for reconsideration. The FO made the reconsideration determination 12/13 and
determined that they had excess resources in October and November but that their resources
were below the limit as of 12/1. The FO made the systems input on 12/14 to pay Mary
SSI benefits beginning 1/1 based on the 10/17 application.
EXAMPLE 2: Sally Johnson filed a SSI application on 9/5. They were determined not disabled.
The DDS made the systems input on 10/30, denying their claim. The life of their application
would have ended 10/30, but Sally appealed the initial SSA determination. The reconsideration
determination of 11/10 and a subsequent ALJ decision of 4/2 affirmed the initial determination
that Sally was not disabled. The life of their application continued based on their
timely appeal but only through 4/2, the date of the ALJ decision. They requested AC
review on 4/4. The AC decided that Sally was disabled as of 9/5. Since the AC decision
reversed the ALJ decision, they are eligible for SSI benefits continuously from 9/5
because they were found disabled as of a date before 4/2, the date the life of their
application ended.
EXAMPLE 3: Same as Example 2 except that on 4/4 Sally Johnson submits new evidence with their
request for AC review. The new evidence shows that they were disabled as of 4/4. Because
the onset of their disability came after the date the life of their application ended
(4/2), their request for AC review (4/4) constitutes a protective filing for a new
application.