Harvey WOLCHUCK, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. Otis R. BOWEN, M.D., Secretary of Health and Human Services, Defendant-Appellee

The district court upheld the final decision of the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) that appellant Harvey Wol-chuck, who applied for father’s insurance benefits in 1985, was not entitled to retroactive benefits from the time of his wife’s death in 1981 because he did not express an “intent” to apply for benefits in an application form he submitted to HHS at that time. We reverse the district court on the ground that under the Secretary’s previous interpretation of the relevant regulations, appellant’s 1981 statement that he would not apply for benefits because his expected earnings precluded eligibility represented an expression of “doubtful intent” to file for benefits, and thus constituted a “filing” under the relevant regulations. Where doubt exists concerning a claimant’s intention to file for benefits, the rule is that the doubt should be resolved by finding an intent to file. We reverse the district court’s holding that there was no intent to file for benefits because the holding was not supported by substantial evidence in the record, and because the district court applied an incorrect legal standard in characterizing appellant’s 1981 statement concerning…