Code of the District of Columbia

§ 1–623.44. Rules and regulations.

The Mayor shall promulgate rules necessary or useful for the administration and enforcement of this subchapter, including rules for modifying an award of compensation and for the conduct of hearings under § 1-623.24. An award may be modified only in accordance with those regulations which shall include the following criteria relating to:

(1) Exchange of information including a claimant’s opportunity to provide medical, vocational, or other information to the Mayor prior to a modification of benefits;

(2) Modification procedures including the manner and content of notices to a claimant concerning a proposed modification;

(3) The procedures for providing additional information concerning a claim, the type of information that may be submitted, and the manner in which all information will be considered;

(4) When a modification may properly be made, and the manner of notice to a claimant of the final decision;

(5) Physical examinations including the weight that shall be given to competing medical reports;

(6) File access including the manner in which a claimant or his or her attorney may request access to the claimant’s file;

(7) Standard of review including the standard applicable to a modification process or appeal under this chapter;

(8) Deadlines and extensions applicable to claimants and the Mayor, which also shall provide that a claimant’s failure to miss a deadline will be excused when good cause is found, a definition of “good cause”, and the procedures for determining whether good cause exists; and

(9) Bases for modification including the legal bases upon which an award of compensation may be modified and the standards to determine whether a claimant’s change of condition would justify the modification.