Revision 10-1; Effective January 15, 2010
1910 Confidential Material — 1 TAC §357.25(d)
Revision 10-1; Effective January 15, 2010
Information furnished in confidence by anyone to the HHSC and was used to make an eligibility determination may not be used to make a hearing decision unless it is shared with the appellant.
Example: During the eligibility determination process, Ms. Brown told her worker that she was not working and had no income. A neighbor contacted the eligibility worker and stated that Ms. Brown was working at the local Wal-Mart. The worker verified that Ms. Brown did indeed work at Wal-Mart and denied her application for assistance. At the hearing, the worker did not want to share the information received from the neighbor so the hearings officer may not consider the statement as evidence.
1920 Privileges — 1 TAC §357.25(d)
Revision 10-1; Effective January 15, 2010
No party to a fair hearing is required to disclose information that is deemed privileged by law. This includes communications between a lawyer and a client, a husband and wife, and a clergy-person and a person seeking spiritual advice. Likewise, the name of an informant or other information protected from disclosure by federal or state substantive law may not be shared with an appellant.
1930 Public Access to Decisions — 1 TAC §357.25(c)
Revision 10-1; Effective January 15, 2010
1931 Confidential Information
Revision 10-1; Effective January 15, 2010
- HHSC Appeals Division records and decisions are available for public inspection and copying, but are also subject to federal and state rules and statutes relating to confidentiality.
- Names, addresses and other identifying information about the household, medical information and the status of pending criminal prosecutions are confidential.
1932 Disclosure of Hearings Recordings and Records
Revision 10-1; Effective January 15, 2010
- An appellant or authorized representative may record the hearing or request a copy of the recording, at no cost, from the hearings officer.
- All other public access to hearings records and decisions is subject to the Texas Public Information Act.
- The agency will redact all confidential information from the hearings decision and make the decision available to the public, without cost, within 30 calendar days of the date of the hearing decision in all acute care appeals for clients less than 21 years of age.
1940 Official Record — 1 TAC §357.25(a)
Revision 10-1; Effective January 15, 2010
The official record of the hearing includes the exhibits offered to the hearings officer, the exhibits admitted, the recording of the hearing, any briefs or memoranda filed in connection with the hearing, the hearings officer's decision and any items filed in connection with administrative review and the decision on administrative review.
1950 Record Retention –1 TAC §357.25(b)
Revision 10-1; Effective January 15, 2010
The official record of all hearings is retained by the HHSC Appeals Division according to the HHSC Records/Retention Schedule.
1960 Prohibition of Use of Information Regarding Alien Status
Revision 10-1; Effective January 15, 2010
HHSC shall not disclose any of the information about a client to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services or any government agency, except as required by law.