# The appeal deadline: 65 days, and how to count them

Claim Back guide · updated October 19, 2026 · https://claimback.lapla.si/guides/medicare-advantage-appeal-deadline

The rule gives you 60 days from the day you receive the plan’s written notice, and it presumes you received it five days after the date printed on it. Put together, that’s the number Medicare gives: 65 days from the date on the notice.

- **The rule: 60 days**, after you receive the plan’s written notice
- **Presumed receipt: +5 days**, after the date printed on the notice
- **In practice: 65 days**, from the date on the notice

## Where to start counting

Start from the date printed on the notice, not the day you opened it. Count calendar days, weekends included. A notice dated March 2 gives you until May 6.

The five days are a presumption. If the notice reached your parent later than that, the rule counts from when it actually arrived, but you need something that shows when. Keep anything that does.

## It counts when the plan receives it

The appeal is filed on the day the plan, or the office named in its notice, receives it. Mailing it on the last day is too late. Use the way the notice offers that arrives fastest, and keep proof.

> **Fast appeals too.** The same 60-day rule, and the same five days, apply when you ask for a fast appeal.

## If you’ve missed it

You can still ask. Put the appeal and the request for more time in writing, and say why it wasn’t filed on time. If there’s good cause, the plan may extend the deadline. It isn’t required to.

## Other clocks

- Care ending at a skilled nursing facility, from a home health agency or at an outpatient rehab facility has its own deadline: noon the day before the end date on the notice. [The fast appeal](https://claimback.lapla.si/guides/care-ending-fast-appeal).
- After the independent reviewer decides, you have 60 days to ask for the next level, a hearing with an administrative law judge. [The independent review](https://claimback.lapla.si/guides/independent-review).

## Sources

- [42 CFR 422.582 — Request for a standard reconsideration](https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-42/section-422.582) (eCFR)
- [42 CFR 422.584 — Expediting certain reconsiderations](https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-42/section-422.584) (eCFR)
- [Appeals in Medicare health plans](https://www.medicare.gov/providers-services/claims-appeals-complaints/appeals/medicare-health-plans) (Medicare.gov)
- [Part C organization determination and appeals process (flow chart)](https://www.cms.gov/medicare/appeals-and-grievances/mmcag/downloads/managed-care-appeals-flow-chart-.pdf) (CMS)
- [Fast appeals](https://www.medicare.gov/providers-services/claims-appeals-complaints/appeals/fast-appeals) (Medicare.gov)

This guide explains the published rules; it isn’t legal advice. Where a notice says something different, follow the notice.