(a) Copies of all necessary forms and instructions will be available:

(1) By writing to the Countermeasures Injury Compensation Program, Healthcare Systems Bureau, Health Resources and Services Administration, Parklawn Building, Room 11C-26, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD 20857.

(2) By calling 1-888-ASK-HRSA. This is a toll-free number.

(3) By downloading them from the Internet at http://www.hrsa.gov/countermeasurescomp/. Click on the link to “Forms and Instructions.”

(b) Before reviewing a Request for Benefits, the Secretary will assign a case number to the Request for Benefits and so inform the requester (or his or her representative) in writing. All correspondence to the requester (or his or her representative) about a specific Request for Benefits will be referenced by this case number.

A Request Package comprises all the forms and documentation that are submitted to enable the Secretary to determine eligibility and calculate benefits. Request Packages may be submitted through the U.S. Postal Service, commercial carrier, or private courier service. The Countermeasures Injury Compensation Program will not accept Request Packages that are hand-delivered. Electronic submissions are not currently accepted, but may be in the future. The Program will publish a notice if electronic filing becomes available. Requesters (or their representatives) should send all forms and documentation to the Countermeasures Injury Compensation Program, Healthcare Systems Bureau, Health Resources and Services Administration, Parklawn Building, Room 11C-26, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD 20857. All documentation to the Program must include the case number once one has been assigned to the requester.

(a) General. All Request Forms (or Letters of Intent, described in paragraph (b) of this section) must be filed within one year of the date of the administration or use of a covered countermeasure that is alleged to have caused the injury. If no previous Request Form (or Letter of Intent) has been filed, this deadline also applies to survivor(s) of an injured countermeasure recipient who is deceased, and to the executor or administrator of his or her estate. If a Request Form (or Letter of Intent) was previously filed, § 110.46 describes amendments to Request Packages.

(b) Letters of Intent. Until Request Forms and Instructions are available, requesters must file a Letter of Intent to File, in order to establish that their Requests for Benefits are timely filed within the one-year deadline. Directions for submitting a Letter of Intent (to file) are available on the Program's Web site at http://www.hrsa.gov/countermeasurescomp/ or by calling 1-888-ASK-HRSA. Even once Request Forms are available, the Secretary has the discretion to accept Letters of Intent (to file) for purposes of meeting the filing deadline. However, when Request Forms and Instructions are available, all requesters who have submitted Letters of Intent must still file Request Forms as soon as possible.

(c) Determination of proper filing. The filing date is the date the Request Form (or Letter of Intent) is postmarked. A legibly dated receipt from a commercial carrier, a private courier service, or the U.S. Postal Service will be considered equivalent to a postmark. If and when Request Forms are accepted electronically, the filing date is the date the Request Form is submitted electronically. A Request Form will not be considered filed unless it has been completed (to the fullest extent possible) and signed by the requester or his or her personal or legal representative. After filing a Request Form within the governing filing deadline, a requester must update the Request Package to reflect new information as it becomes available (e.g., copies of medical records generated after the initial submission of the Request Package).

(d) Request Forms not filed within the one-year deadline. If the Secretary determines that a Request Form or Letter of Intent was not filed within the governing filing deadline set out in this section, the Request Form (or Letter of Intent) will not be processed and the requester will not be eligible for benefits under this Program.

(e) Constructive receipt. The Secretary reserves the right to consider a legal claim filed with the Federal Government (e.g., a Federal Tort Claims Act claim or a petition with the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program) concerning an alleged injury resulting from the administration or use of a covered countermeasure to be a filing of a Request Form or Letter of Intent for purposes of determining the filing date under this Program. The date of such constructive filing will be the official filing date of the action, i.e., when all applicable requirements for proper filing in that forum have been met.

(f) Request Forms (or amendments to Request Forms) based on initial publication of a Table of Injuries or modifications to an existing Table. The Secretary may publish a new Table (or Tables) by amendment(s) to subpart K of this part. The effect of such a new Table or amendment may enable a requester who previously could not establish a Table injury to do so. In such circumstances, within one year after the effective date of the establishment of, or amendment to, the Table, the requester must file a new Request Form if one was previously submitted and eligibility was denied or if one was not previously submitted. If the Secretary has not made a determination, she will automatically review any pending Request Forms in light of the new or amended Table(s).

(a) Documentation for eligibility determinations. A requester will satisfy the filing deadline as long as the signed Request Form is completed (to the fullest extent possible) and submitted within the governing filing deadline described in § 110.42. The Secretary generally will not begin review of a requester's eligibility until all the documentation necessary to make this determination has been submitted.

(b) Documentation for benefits determinations. Although the Secretary will accept documentation required to make benefits determinations (i.e., calculate benefits available, if any) at the time the Request Form is filed or any time thereafter, requesters need not submit such documentation until they have been notified that the Secretary has determined eligibility. The Secretary will not generally begin review of the benefits available to a requester until the documentation necessary to make a benefits determination has been submitted.

(a) Generally. Persons other than a requester (e.g., a lawyer, guardian, family member, friend) may file a Request Package on a requester's behalf as his or her legal or personal representative. A requester need not use the services of a lawyer to apply for benefits under this Program. A legal representative, or a personal representative (who does not need to be a lawyer) is only required, as described in this section, for requesters who are minors or adults who lack legal capacity to receive payment of benefits. In the event that a legal or personal representative files on behalf of a requester, the representative will be bound by the obligations and documentation requirements that apply to the requester (e.g., if a requester is required to submit employment records, the representative must file the requester's employment records). The representative must also satisfy the requirements specific to representatives set out in this part. If a requester has a representative, the Program will generally direct all communications to the representative. However, the Secretary reserves the right of the Program to contact the requester directly if necessary, and to conduct a follow-up survey to determine the ability of the Program to meet requesters' needs.

(b) Legal or personal representatives of legally competent adults. A requester who is a legally competent adult may use a legal or personal representative to submit a Request Package on his or her behalf. In such circumstances, the requester must indicate on the Request Form that he or she is authorizing the representative to seek benefits under this Program on his or her behalf.

(c) Legal or personal representatives of minors and adults who lack legal capacity to receive payment of benefits. A requester who is a minor or an adult who lacks legal capacity to receive payment of benefits must use a legal or personal representative to apply for benefits under this Program on his or her behalf. In such circumstances, the representative must indicate, in the place provided on the Request Form, that the requester is a minor or an adult who lacks legal capacity to receive payment of benefits and that the representative is filing on behalf of the requester. In addition, before the requester will be paid by the Program, the representative must submit the documentation described in § 110.63. A minor who is emancipated, as determined by a court of competent jurisdiction, does not need a legal or personal representative to file a Request Form or Request Package on his or her behalf.

(d) No payment or reimbursement for legal or personal representatives' fees or costs. The Act does not authorize the Secretary to pay for, or reimburse, any fees or costs associated with the requester's use of the services of a legal or personal representative under this Program, including those of an attorney.

Multiple survivors of the same deceased injured countermeasure recipient may file Request Forms separately or together. Multiple survivors may also submit one set of any required documentation on behalf of all of the requesting survivors as long as such documentation is identical for each survivor.

(a) Generally. All requesters may amend their documentation concerning eligibility up to the time the Secretary has made an eligibility determination. Requesters are expected to submit additional medical records as they become available. Requesters also may amend their information or documentation concerning the calculation of benefits until the Secretary has made a benefits determination. Once an eligibility determination has been made, the Secretary will not accept additional documentation concerning eligibility, except as described in paragraphs (b) and (c) of this section. Once a benefits determination has been made, the Secretary will not accept additional documentation regarding the type or amount of benefits for that covered injury, except as described in paragraphs (b) and (c) of this section.

(b) Requesters who are survivors. If an injured countermeasure recipient submitted a Request Form within the filing deadline, but subsequently dies, or the executor or administrator timely filed on behalf of the estate, the survivor(s) may amend the previously filed Request Package at any time by filing a new Request Form in order to be considered for death benefits. Such an amendment can be filed regardless of whether the Secretary made an eligibility determination or paid benefits with respect to the deceased injured countermeasure recipient's Request Package. However, a survivor filing an amendment to a previously filed Request Package may only be eligible for benefits if the previously filed Request Package was filed within the governing filing deadline. All documentation that has already been submitted with respect to the deceased injured countermeasure recipient will be considered part of the survivor requester's Request Package, and he or she is not required to resubmit such documentation. Survivor requesters must also file an amendment to a Request Package if there is a change in the order of priority of survivors, as described in § 110.11.

(c) Requests in which the benefits are sought for the estate of a deceased injured countermeasure recipient. If an injured countermeasure recipient submitted a Request Form within the filing deadline, but subsequently dies before all due benefits are paid by the Program, the executor or administrator of his or her estate may amend his or her Request Package at any time in order for the estate to be considered for benefits. This opportunity to amend applies also if the Request Form was timely filed by a survivor. Such an amendment can be filed regardless of whether the Secretary made an eligibility determination or paid benefits with respect to the deceased injured countermeasure recipient's Request Package. However, the executor or administrator of the deceased injured countermeasure recipient's estate filing an amendment to a previously filed Request Package may only be eligible to receive benefits on behalf of the estate if the previously filed Request Package was filed within the governing deadline. All documentation that has already been submitted with respect to the deceased injured countermeasure recipient will be considered part of that person's Request Package, and the executor or administrator of the estate is not required to resubmit such documentation.