405.1008—Parties to an ALJ hearing.
(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 § 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 § 405.1012.