Incorporation by Reference of Oral Findings of Fact and Rationale in Wholly Favorable Written Decisions

If an administrative law judge (ALJ) makes a wholly favorable oral decision, including all the findings and rationale for the decision for a claimant of Title II or Title XVI payments, at an administrative appeals hearing, the ALJ sends a Notice of Decision (Form HA-82), as the records from the oral hearing preclude the need for a written decision. We call this the incorporation-by-reference process. In addition, the regulations for this process state that if the involved parties want a record of the oral decision, they may submit a written request for these records. SSA collects identifying information under the aegis of Sections 20 CFR 404.953 and 416.1453 of the Code of Federal Regulations to determine how to send interested individuals written records of a favorable incorporation-by-reference oral decision made at an administrative review hearing. Since there is no prescribed form to request a written record of the decision, the involved parties send SSA their contact information and reference the hearing for which they would like a record. The respondents are applicants for Disability Insurance Benefits and SSI payments, or their representatives, to whom SSA gave a wholly favorable oral decision under the regulations cited above.

The latest form for Incorporation by Reference of Oral Findings of Fact and Rationale in Wholly Favorable Written Decisions expires 2023-05-31 and can be found here.