Ohio Administrative Code › Title 5101:6 - Hearings › Chapter 5101:6-5 - Pre-Hearing Procedures; Postponement, Denial, or Dismissal of Hearing › Section 5101:6-5-01 - State hearings: procedures prior to the state hearing

Current through all regulations passed and filed through July 1, 2024
(A) The bureau of state hearings
			 (BSH) shall handle the receipt and processing of
			 the request for a state hearing. When the hearing request is made to the local
			 agency, the local agency shall date stamp the request, retain a copy, and mail
			 or transmit the request to "ODJFS, Bureau of State Hearings, P.O. Box 182825,
			 Columbus, Ohio 43218-2825," or fax to 614-728-9574 or email to
			 bsh@jfs.ohio.gov, within one business day from the date of receipt.
(B) The local agency proposing the action
			 about which the individual requested the state hearing shall complete an appeal
			 summary. The summary consists of a prescribed form (the JFS 04067 "Appeal
			 Summary,"  or for a medicaid
			 managed care plan or "MyCare Ohio" plan the ODM 01959 "Appeal Summary for
			 Managed Care Plans" ) and
			 attachments, and is intended to provide a summary of all facts and documents
			 relevant to the issue under appeal sufficient to demonstrate the basis for the
			 local agency's action.
The local agency shall file its appeal summary with the bureau
				of state hearings at least three business days prior to the scheduled hearing
				date, and also make it available to the individual or authorized representative
				at least three days prior to the hearing for inspection. Failure to do so may
				be considered good cause for postponing or continuing the hearing if the
				individual has been materially disadvantaged by the failure.
(C) County conferences
(1)
									
									To avoid unnecessary state hearings,
			 the local agency shall provide an opportunity for the individual to discuss
			 and/or resolve disagreements with the local agency's actions or
			 inaction.
(2) When an individual
			 requests a county conference, the local agency shall convene a conference
			 presided over by the local agency's director or a designee. Both the local
			 agency and the individual may bring whomever each reasonably wants to be at the
			 conference. The issue to be decided by the presiding person shall be whether
			 the local agency can show, by a preponderance of the evidence, that its action
			 or inaction was in accordance with applicable regulations. If not, the
			 presiding person shall retract the notice of adverse action and/or decide the
			 question of the individual's entitlement to benefits or arrange to make that
			 determination as quickly as possible. The outcome of the county conference
			 shall be recorded, in writing, in the case record.
(3) The individual need not have a county
			 conference  to have a state
			 hearing, nor does the holding of a county conference, or the individual's
			 failure to appear for one, diminish the right to a state hearing. A state
			 hearing must still be held unless a resolution is reached at the county
			 conference and the individual withdraws the hearing request in writing. Any
			 such withdrawal shall be signed and dated by both the individual and the local
			 agency representative, shall clearly set forth the resolution upon which the
			 withdrawal is based, and shall be forwarded to the assigned hearings section
			 within two business days. The local agency shall give one copy of the
			 withdrawal to the individual and retain one copy in the case file.
(4) The local agency shall schedule a county
			 conference for assistance groups contesting a denial of expedited
			 
									supplemental assistance nutrition program(SNAP) within
			 two business days, unless the assistance group requests that the county
			 conference be scheduled later or states that it does not wish to have a county
			 conference.