What is the “administrative record”?
The “administrative record” is basically anything that the plan administrator (or insurer) looks at in reaching its final decision regarding whether a claim will be paid or not. It generally includes any medical records, medical reports, vocational reports, bills submitted by the claimant; and any claim-related correspondence. But it may also include any internal reports of the plan’s own reviewing physicians or vocational “experts”. Incredibly, the existence and content of such internal reports may not even be disclosed to the claimant. Frequently, plan administrators (and insurers) will build their own private “administrative record” that the claimant knows nothing about until after an attorney is hired and litigation is commenced. But by that time, the administrative record may have “terminated” i.e. It may be too late to augment that record. If that happens, the claimant is deprived of the opportunity to examine, comment upon or rebut important evidence in the “administrative recor
