1. (a) Notification of Hearing. The hearing official shall, at least ten days prior to the date of the hearing, send a written notification of the hearing to the individual who has requested the hearing.

   1. (1) This notice will be sent to the address of record for the individual or to the address indicated in the request for hearing.

   2. (2) The notification shall contain:

      1. (A) the basis of the proposed action;
      2. (B) the time, date, and place of the hearing;
      3. (C) a statement that the individual may request the hearing to be conducted based on the taking of oral testimony (an "oral hearing"), or a hearing based on written information contained in any appropriate file and additional information that the individual may wish to submit for consideration (a "document hearing"), as is described in §357.17 of this title (relating to Document Hearing);
      4. (D) a statement that the individual may request any reasonable accommodation required due to disability or language comprehension;
      5. (E) a statement that, before and during the hearing, the individual may request to examine any appropriate file and documents or records the operating agency wants the hearing official to consider; and
      6. (F) instructions on submitting written medical information for the hearing official to consider and the deadline for submitting that information.

2. (b) Access to Records.

   1. (1) Upon the individual's request, the individual shall be given the opportunity to examine any appropriate file, and other documents or records the operating agency wants the hearing official to consider.
   2. (2) If the individual intends to introduce written medical information at the hearing, that information must be submitted to the hearing official at least five days prior to the hearing, to allow the operating agency to obtain a review of the material by medical staff persons. The failure to so submit such medical information shall not render the material inadmissible, but the hearing official shall be permitted to keep the hearing record open. The hearing official may request a medical review by the operating agency of the submitted material. If a hearing official requests a medical review, the hearing official will mail a copy of that medical review to the individual within seven days after the hearing. The individual will have ten days from the date the medical review was mailed to submit to the hearing official a written response or rebuttal to the medical review. The hearing official will close the hearing record at the end of the tenth day from the date the medical review was mailed to the individual.
3. (c) Representation. An individual may represent himself or herself, or be represented by legal counsel, a relative, a friend, or other designated spokesperson. If the individual does not appear at the hearing, the operating agency may require the submission of documentation demonstrating that the representative appearing on the individual's behalf has authority to represent the individual.
4. (d) Additional Medical Assessment. If the hearing involves medical issues such as those concerning a diagnosis, an examining physician's report, or a medical review team's decision, and if the hearing official considers it necessary to have a medical assessment other than that of the person involved in making the original decision, that medical assessment must be obtained at the operating agency's expense and made part of the record.

Source Note:The provisions of this §357.11 adopted to be effective March 31, 1999, 24 TexReg 2293.