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Office of Medicare Hearings and Appeals (OMHA)

About OMHA

The Office of Medicare Hearings and Appeals (OMHA) is responsible for Level 3 of the Medicare claims appeal process and certain Medicare-related appeals from the Social Security Administration.

OMHA was created by the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003 to simplify the appeals process and make it more efficient. During an appeal, an OMHA Administrative Law Judge conducts a new ("de novo") review of an appellant's case and issues a decision based on the facts and the law.

The Chief Administrative Law Judge leads the entire agency that consists of four field offices and a headquarters office. Each field office consists of many Administrative Law Judges who are overseen by a Managing Administrative Law Judge.