(a) Who may request a hearing. Any party to the QIC's reconsideration may request a hearing before an ALJ. However, only the appellant (that is, the party that filed and maintained the request for reconsideration by a QIC) may request that the appeal be escalated to the ALJ level if the QIC does not complete its action within the time frame described in Sec. 405.970.
(b) Who are parties to the ALJ hearing. The party who filed the request for hearing and all other parties to the reconsideration are parties to the ALJ hearing. In addition, a representative of CMS or its contractor may be a party under the circumstances described in Sec. 405.1012.