The following chart describes the responsibilities of various components in the disability
hearing process at the reconsideration level:
Component
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Responsibilities
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Field Office (FO)
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•
Assists individuals with filing a Form SSA-789-U4 (Request for Reconsideration - Disability Cessation Right to Appear), and obtains
all necessary supporting forms. For more information on these forms, see DI 12026.020B;
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•
Sends these documents with the folder to the disability determination services (DDS),
or the component responsible for developing non-State cases;
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•
Serves as remote hearing site in order to provide accessible disability hearings to
individuals who do not live within a reasonable distance of a DHU; and
-
•
Effectuates favorable reconsidered decisions.
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Disability Determination Services (DDS)
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-
•
Assigns the case to a pre-hearing examiner, who fully develops the case and reviews
it for completeness with respect to each relevant issue;
-
•
Issues fully favorable reconsideration CDR determination if evidence warrants; and
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•
Prepares folder for disability hearing and routes it to the DHU when unable to make
a fully favorable determination.
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Disability Hearing Unit (DHU)/ Disability Hearing Officer (DHO)
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-
•
Schedules and holds hearing unless individual waived their right to appear. (If an
individual waives the right to appear at a hearing or fails to appear, the DHO issues
a decision based on the evidence in file, including any additional evidence submitted.)
NOTE: If an individual fails to appear, the DHO must follow appropriate policy, which may
require rescheduling the hearing (mental impairment involved, or good cause for not appearing).
-
•
Completes the appropriate disability determination and transmittal form SSA-831-U3, SSA-832, or SSA-833;
-
•
Issues a decision via a notice of reconsideration which provides administrative law
judge (ALJ) appeal rights and, when appropriate, rights to statutory benefit continuation.
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Review Components
|
-
•
Reviews the DDS' fully favorable reconsideration determinations. (Such determinations
are subject to quality assurance review and, in Title II cases, to pre-effectuation
review.); and
-
•
Returns case to the DDS for corrective action if the review indicates that the evidence
does not warrant a fully favorable determination.
NOTE: When the review component returns a case to the DDS, the DDS completes any necessary
additional development and either prepares a revised (fully favorable) determination
and returns the case to the review component, or prepares the folder for a disability
hearing and forwards it to the DHU.
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Great Lakes Program Service Center (GLPSC)
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-
•
Processes career railroad and dependent annuitant cases;
-
•
Handles Request for Reconsideration-Disability Cessation in a manner similar to DDS
procedure;
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•
Forwards case to the DHO in the appropriate regional office (RO) if a hearing is necessary;
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•
Effectuates determinations rendered by GLPSC or a DHO in coordination with the Railroad
Retirement Board; and
-
•
Routes folder(s) to proper component for maintenance.
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Office of Earnings and International Operations (OEIO)
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-
•
Processes foreign claims in a manner similar to that described for the DDS;
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•
The International Disability Unit (IDU) has its own DHO. Assist is sometimes requested
from the Regional Office when the IDU DHO has had previous involvement in a particular
claim (e.g., quality review); and
-
•
Effectuates reconsidered decisions issued in the OEIO.
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