Section R20-5-133. Claimant’s Petition to Reopen Claim

A.      A petition to reopen filed with the Commission under A.R.S. § 23-1061(H) shall be in writing, signed, and dated by the claim- ant or the claimant’s authorized representative. A petition to reopen form is available from the Commission upon request.

B.       A claimant shall provide to the Commission a copy of a medi- cal report supporting the disability or condition justifying the reopening of the claim.

C.      If the Commission does not receive the medical report described in subsection (B) within 14 days of receipt of a peti- tion to reopen, the Commission shall notify all parties, in writ- ing, that it has received a petition to reopen without the required medical report. A carrier or self-insured employer is not required to act on a petition to reopen that is received with- out the required medical report.

D.      If the Commission receives a medical report in support of a petition to reopen and a claimant does not file a petition to reopen within 14 days of receipt of the medical report, the Commission shall forward the medical report to the carrier or self-insured employer for information purposes only. A carrier or self-insured employer is not required to take any action upon receipt of the medical report.

E.       If the Commission receives a medical report in support of a petition to reopen from an out-of-state physician and a party objects to the report at least 20 days before a scheduled hear- ing, the Commission shall not consider the report or place the report in evidence unless the party submitting the report pro- duces the author of the report for cross-examination either at the hearing or at a deposition. The party submitting into evi- dence the medical report prepared by an out-of-state physician shall pay the expenses of a deposition under this subsection.

Historical Note

Former Rule 33. Amended subsections (A), (C), (D) and

(E) effective March 1, 1987, filed February 26, 1987

(Supp. 87-1). Amended effective August 28, 1992 (Supp. 92-3). R20-5-133 recodified from R4-13-133 (Supp. 95- 1). Amended by final rulemaking at 7 A.A.R. 3966 and 7

A.A.R. 4995, effective August 17, 2001 (Supp. 01-3).