7 CCR 1101-3-17-7 - Closure of Claims and Petitions to Reopen

7-1 CLOSURE OF CLAIMS

(A) A claim may be closed by order, final admission, or pursuant to subsection (C) of this section.

(B) A Final Admission of Liability may be filed based on abandonment of the claim if the claimant:

(1) Is not receiving temporary disability benefits; and

(2) has not attended two or more consecutive scheduled medical appointments; and

(3) has failed to respond within 30 days to a letter from the insurer or the insured asking if the claimant requires additional medical treatment or is claiming permanent impairment. The letter shall be sent after the second missed medical appointment to the claimant and the claimant's attorney if the claimant is represented. The letter must advise the claimant in bold type and capital letters that failure to respond to the letter within 30 days will result in a final admission being filed. If the claimant timely responds to the letter and objects to closure the insurer may not file a Final Admission of Liability pursuant to this rule.

(a) If a claim is abandoned and a Final Admission of Liability is filed pursuant to this rule, date of maximum medical improvement shall not be included.

(b) A copy of the letter sent to the claimant as well as documentation of the missed appointments must be attached to the final admission of liability.

(c) If the claimant timely objects to a final admission of liability filed pursuant to subsection (b) of rule 7-1 the insurer must withdraw the final admission by filing a general admission of liability.

(C) When no activity in furtherance of prosecution has occurred in a claim for a period of at least 6 months, a party may request the claim be closed.

(1) Claimant must not be receiving temporary disability benefits.

(2) The request to close the claim shall include a separate, properly captioned proposed order to show cause and prepared certificate of mailing, along with addressed, stamped envelopes for the claimant, insurer and each attorney of record who has entered an appearance in the case. Requests may be submitted via regular mail. Email submission is permitted if email addresses are provided for all parties.

(3) Following receipt of a request to close a claim, the Director may issue the order to show cause why the claim should not be closed. If no response is mailed or delivered within 30 days of the date the order was mailed, the claim shall be closed automatically, subject to the reopening provisions of § 8-43-303, C.R.S. If a response is timely received, the Director may determine whether the claim should remain open. An application for hearing or for a division independent medical examination without further action (i.e., setting and attending a hearing or a division independent medical examination) does not automatically constitute prosecution.

(4) The Director may issue an extension of time to show cause to allow a party an opportunity to prosecute the claim. Any such extension of time to show cause shall not be reconsidered.

(D) Closure of a claim pursuant to 7-1(C) does not terminate entitlement to any of the following:

(1) maintenance medical benefits previously admitted and/or ordered.

(2) permanent medical impairment benefits previously admitted and/or ordered which have not yet been paid.

(E) A final admission of liability may be filed based on the claimant's voluntary abandonment upon written notice that the claimant no longer wishes to pursue the claim if the claimant:

(1) is no longer receiving temporary disability benefits; and

(2) acknowledges in the written notice upon a form prescribed by the division that the claimant is abandoning current and future medical care related to the claim;

(3) The claimant may object to a final admission of liability filed pursuant to 7-1(E).

7-2 PETITIONS TO REOPEN

(A) A claimant or insurer may request to reopen a claim, pursuant to § 8-43-303, C.R.S. by filing an application for hearing with the office of administrative courts and endorsing the issue of reopening.

(1) If the other party agrees to voluntarily reopen the claim the Division shall be notified by the insurer by the filing of an admission

(2) If the claim is reopened pursuant to an order, the insurer shall file an admission consistent with the order within 20 days of the order becoming final.

(B) For those injuries arising after July 2, 1987 at 4:16 p.m. and prior to July 1, 1991, a Petition to Reopen shall be filed when a claimant is requesting a redetermination of the original permanent partial disability award pursuant to Section § 8-42-110(3), C.R.S., (repealed 7/1/91). The petition shall be filed with a statement outlining the circumstances of termination from employment.

7-3 SINGLE LIFE EXPECTANCY TABLE

Age	Life Expectancy	Age	life expectancy
0	84.6	39	46.7
1	83.7	40	45.7
2	82.8	41	44.8
3	81.8	42	43.8
4	80.8	43	42.9
5	79.8	44	41.9
6	78.8	45	41.0
7	77.9	46	40.0
8	76.9	47	39.0
9	75.9	48	38.1
10	74.9	49	37.1
11	73.9	50	36.2
12	72.9	51	35.3
13	71.9	52	34.3
14	70.9	53	33.4
15	69.9	54	32.5
16	69.0	55	31.6
17	68.0	56	30.6
18	67.0	57	29.8
19	66.0	58	28.9
20	65.0	59	28.0
21	64.1	60	27.1
22	63.1	61	26.2
23	62.1	62	25.4
24	61.1	63	24.5
25	60.2	64	23.7
26	59.2	65	22.9
27	58.2	66	22.0
28	57.3	67	21.2
29	56.3	68	20.4
30	55.3	69	19.6
31	54.4	70	18.8
32	53.4	71	18.0
33	52.5	72	17.2
34	51.5	73	16.4
35	50.5	74	15.6
36	49.6	75	14.8
37	48.6	76	14.1
38	47.7	77	13.3

Age	Life Expectancy	Age	Life Expectancy
78	12.6	98	3.2
79	11.9	99	3.0
80	11.2	100	2.8
81	10.5	101	2.6
82	9.9	102	2.5
83	9.3	103	2.3
84	8.7	104	2.2
85	8.1	105	2.1
86	7.6	106	2.1
87	7.1	107	2.1
88	6.6	108	2.0
89	6.1	109	2.0
90	5.7	110	2.0
91	5.3	111	2.0
92	4.9	112	2.0
93	4.6	113	1.9
94	4.3	114	1.9
95	4.0	115	1.8
96	3.7	116	1.8
97	3.4	117	1.6
		118	1.4
		119	1.1
		120+	1.0

Notes

7 CCR 1101-3-17-7

37 CR 13, July 10, 2014, effective 7/30/2014 38 CR 01, January 10, 2015, effective 2/1/2015 38 CR 05, March 10, 2015, effective 4/1/2015 38 CR 11, June 10, 2015, effective 7/1/2015 38 CR 17, September 10, 2015, effective 1/1/2016 39 CR 04, February 25, 2016, effective 3/16/2016 39 CR 13, July 10, 2016, effective 7/30/2016 39 CR 16, August 25, 2016, effective 9/14/2016 39 CR 19, October 10, 2016, effective 1/1/2017 40 CR 03, February 10, 2017, effective 3/2/2017 40 CR 11, June 10, 2017, effective 7/1/2017 40 CR 21, November 10, 2017, effective 11/30/2017 40 CR 18, September 25, 2017, effective 1/1/2018 40 CR 20, October 25, 2017, effective 1/1/2018 41 CR 11, June 10, 2018, effective 7/1/2018 41 CR 19, October 10, 2018, effective 1/1/2019 41 CR 20, October 25, 2018, effective 1/1/2019 41 CR 23, December 10, 2018, effective 1/1/2019 42 CR 01, January 10, 2019, effective 1/30/2019 42 CR 11, June 10, 2019, effective 6/30/2019 42 CR 12, June 25, 2019, effective 7/15/2019 42 CR 21, November 10, 2019, effective 11/30/2019 42 CR 20, October 25, 2019, effective 1/1/2020 42 CR 23, December 10, 2019, effective 1/1/2020 43 CR 03, February 10, 2020, effective 1/1/2020 43 CR 07, April 10, 2020, effective 4/30/2020 43 CR 11, June 10, 2020, effective 7/1/2020 43 CR 16, August 25, 2020, effective 10/14/2020 43 CR 21, November 10, 2020, effective 1/1/2021 44 CR 07, April 10, 2021, effective 4/30/2021 44 CR 08, April 25, 2021, effective 7/1/2021 44 CR 13, July 10, 2021, effective 7/30/2021 44 CR 20, October 25, 2021, effective 1/1/2022 44 CR 23, December 10, 2021, effective 1/1/2022 44 CR 23, December 10, 2021, effective 1/10/2022 45 CR 01, January 10, 2022, effective 1/30/2022 45 CR 11, June 10, 2022, effective 7/1/2022 45 CR 13, July 10, 2022, effective 8/10/2022 45 CR 21, November 10, 2022, effective 12/6/2022 46 CR 01, January 10, 2023, effective 12/6/2022 45 CR 19, October 10, 2022, effective 1/1/2023 46 CR 02, January 25, 2022, effective 1/1/2023 46 CR 02, January 25, 2023, effective 3/2/2023 46 CR 05, March 10, 2023, effective 3/30/2023 47 CR 11, June 10, 2024, effective 7/1/2024