At the December 9, 2009 meeting, the Board of Directors approved amendments to policy item #99.20, Notification of Decisions, in the Rehabilitation Services & Claims Manual, Volume II.

The changes to the Notification of Decisions policy include:

• defining “decision”;
• providing that a decision is made for the purposes of triggering the statutory timelines on reconsideration and review when it is communicated to an affected person; 
• providing that key decisions will be communicated in writing;
• defining “finding of fact”; and
• clarifying that notification of rights of review and appeal will be provided on rejected claims. As a consequence, policy item #99.21, Notification of Rights of Review and Appeal, was deleted.

The changes to the policy apply to decisions made on or after April 1, 2010.