How to Appeal a Denial in Ohio: The 90-Day Deadline, the 15-Day Rule That Keeps Benefits On, and the Plan You Must Appeal to First
Two clocks start on the day the notice is mailed, and they are not the same length. Ninety days to get a hearing. Fifteen days to keep the money coming while you wait. Missing the short one does not cost you the hearing — it costs you the months in between.
If a notice says your benefits will stop or be reduced, file within 15 days of the mailing date and ask for benefits to continue. Everything else can be sorted out afterwards.
The two clocks
| What you want | Deadline |
|---|---|
| A hearing at all | 90 days from the notice mailing date |
| Benefits to keep running meanwhile | 15 days from the notice mailing date |
Source: Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, Bureau of State Hearings.
Both run from the mailing date printed on the notice, not from the day you opened the envelope. Find that date first and write it down.
One helpful rule: if the ninetieth day falls on a weekend or a holiday, the deadline moves to the next working day. The Bureau says so itself.
This applies across programmes — Medicaid, Medicaid waivers, food assistance, cash assistance, child care, adoption assistance, child support. One bureau, one form, one set of deadlines.
If a health plan made the decision, there is a step first
The Bureau states it plainly: if the issue is a managed care plan denial, termination, reduction or suspension of a service, you must appeal through the plan first. A state hearing request filed before that step can be sent back to you.
This matters more in Ohio now than it used to. During 2026 the state moved people who have both Medicare and Medicaid into managed care county by county, finishing in August. A household that dealt directly with the county last year may be dealing with a plan this year without having noticed the change.
So the first question, before anything else: who signed the notice? A county Department of Job and Family Services, or a health plan?
If you cannot tell, the Ohio Medicaid Consumer Hotline will tell you which plan you are in.
Ohio Medicaid Consumer Hotline · 1-800-324-8680Five ways to file
The Bureau of State Hearings accepts a request five different ways. Use whichever you can do today — speed matters more than tidiness.
bsh@jfs.ohio.gov — put State Hearing Request in the subject line.
614-728-9574
ODJFS Bureau of State Hearings
P.O. Box 182825
Columbus, Ohio 43218-2825
If someone is filing on your behalf — an adult child, a facility social worker, an attorney — the Bureau asks that they use email, fax or post rather than the online form, and that they send documentation of their authority to represent you along with the request.
Keep proof. A screenshot of the submitted form, the sent email, the fax confirmation, the postal receipt. The deadline is about when the Bureau receives your request.
What to say
There is no required wording, and no need to argue your case in the request. Two things have to be in it: that you want a hearing, and that you want benefits to continue.
"I am requesting a state hearing on the notice dated [date on the notice]. I am also requesting that my benefits continue at the current level until a hearing decision is issued. I disagree with the decision because [one sentence]."
The reason can be a single line. The hearing itself is where the case gets made, and you can add documents later.
What happens after you file
A hearing officer is assigned. Hearings are usually held by telephone, and an in-person hearing can be requested. Both sides present evidence and answer questions.
The agency must carry out that decision within 15 days of the date it is issued
— and in any case within 90 days of your hearing request
If the benefits awarded do not arrive, contact the Bureau
Source: Ohio Medicaid Consumer Hotline, appeals.
Two further steps exist, and both are described by Disability Rights Ohio, the state's federally designated protection and advocacy organisation.
If you disagree with the hearing decision, the Bureau must receive an administrative appeal within 15 calendar days of the date the decision was issued. It must be in writing and signed. Ask again for benefits to continue — that does not carry over automatically.
If you are appealing a managed care plan decision and health or safety is in serious jeopardy, you can ask at the hearing for the decision to be expedited — issued within three working days. Ask for it out loud; it is not automatic.
One more thing worth knowing: if a new notice arrives while you are waiting, it needs its own hearing request. A pending appeal does not cover a decision that had not been made when you filed.
If you lose — and the risk of continuing benefits
This has to be said plainly. If your assistance continued during the appeal and you lose, you may have to pay back the benefits you were not eligible to receive.
That is not a reason to skip the 15-day request. For most people the risk is small and the loss of income is immediate and certain. But it is a reason to ask, when you file, roughly what is at stake if the decision goes against you.
Free legal help exists for exactly this conversation. Ohio's legal aid network takes benefit cases, and Disability Rights Ohio publishes detailed guidance for Medicaid appeals.
Many Ohio refusals are about income being a little over the line. There is a state rule that can decide the argument: from January until the month after new poverty guidelines are published, the annual cost-of-living rise is deducted from income. If you were refused early in a year, that is the question to raise.
Ohio's income limits, and the January rule →Eight things that go wrong
Both clocks run from the mailing date printed on the notice.
They are two separate requests. Put the second one in writing, at the top.
Managed care denials must be appealed through the plan first.
File first. The evidence goes in later, and the deadline does not pause.
The telephone route is real, but keep a record of whatever you send, however you send it.
Each notice needs its own request.
An administrative appeal has to reach the Bureau within 15 calendar days of the hearing decision.
Three working days is available on a managed care appeal, but only if you ask.
Questions people ask
I missed the 15 days. Is it over?
No. You still have 90 days for the hearing itself. And if the request reaches the Bureau within 10 days of the change in your services, services can be reinstated where there was good cause for the delay. Say why you were late.
Nobody sent me anything in writing.
You can still request a state hearing. A decision communicated by telephone does not remove the right to appeal it.
Can my daughter file for me?
Yes, as an authorised representative. She should use email, fax or post rather than the online form, and send documentation of her authority with the request.
Do I need a lawyer?
No. The hearing is designed to be used without one. Free legal aid is available in Ohio for benefit cases, and using it costs nothing.
Is the hearing in person?
Usually by telephone. There is a box on the request form for the number to reach you on. In-person hearings can be requested.
| Who decides |
| ODJFS Bureau of State Hearings |
| Request a hearing |
| Online request form |
| Telephone |
| 1-866-635-3748 |
| Email · fax |
| bsh@jfs.ohio.gov · 614-728-9574 |
| Post |
| P.O. Box 182825, Columbus, Ohio 43218-2825 |
| Which plan am I in? |
| Ohio Medicaid Consumer Hotline, 1-800-324-8680 |
| Free guidance |
| Disability Rights Ohio — Medicaid appeals |
Related programs
A refusal on income? Read this first Ohio's Medicare premium limits, and the January deduction → A refusal on care needs? PASSPORT: what nursing home level of care actually means → Reapply at the right moment The whole Ohio year on one page →Sources. Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, Bureau of State Hearings — the 90-day deadline measured from the notice mailing date, the next-working-day rule where the ninetieth day falls on a weekend or holiday, the 15-day rule for benefits to continue, the programmes covered, the five filing routes with the email address, fax number and postal address, and the requirement that authorised representatives file by email, fax or post with documentation of authority. Ohio Medicaid Consumer Hotline — the 15-day compliance deadline for the agency after a decision, the requirement of a fresh hearing request for a new notice, and the possibility of repayment where continued benefits are later found not to have been due. Disability Rights Ohio, Ohio's federally designated protection and advocacy organisation — the good-cause reinstatement window, the 15 calendar day administrative appeal deadline, and the three working day expedited decision for managed care appeals where health or safety is in jeopardy.
Verified: August 1, 2026. Deadlines are set by rule and the date that governs is the one printed on your notice. Confirm anything that affects your own case with the Bureau of State Hearings.
This page explains a public process. It is not legal advice and it is not a prediction of any outcome. Only the Bureau of State Hearings can decide an appeal.
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