Medicaid appeals in Georgia: hearing deadline and keeping benefits
Georgia Medicaid (including Georgia Families managed care, PeachCare for Kids and Georgia Pathways to Coverage): you have 30 days to ask for a fair hearing.
If you ask, your Medicaid (and your patient liability or cost share) can continue while you wait for the hearing if DFCS receives your request within 10 days of the date of the notice.
Checked against official sources: October 30, 2026.
Appeal deadlines are strict. If you are near a deadline or your care is urgent, call free help today.
Medicaid (Georgia Medicaid (including Georgia Families managed care, PeachCare for Kids and Georgia Pathways to Coverage)) denials in Georgia
- Medicaid agency
Georgia Department of Community Health (DCH); eligibility is handled by the Division of Family and Children Services (DFCS) of the Georgia Department of Human Services
- Who holds the hearing
Georgia Office of State Administrative Hearings (OSAH)
- Hearing deadline
30 days
The date of the notice (notification of the decision you disagree with)
- If you are late
A late request is still sent to OSAH; the administrative law judge decides whether you had good cause.
- How to ask for a hearing
- In person: Give a written request to any Division of Family and Children Services (DFCS) office
- Mail: Send a written request to your DFCS office (the address is on your notice)
- Phone: You can ask orally, but you must send a written request within 15 days of the oral request
- Mail: PeachCare for Kids and Planning for Healthy Babies: RSM Group, P.O. Box 786, Alma, GA 31510 (fax 912-632-0389, email rsm.mailfax@dhs.ga.gov), or any DFCS office
- What to include
The notices say you must ask for the hearing in writing within 30 days from the date of the notice. Say which action you disagree with and whether you want your benefits to continue. If someone represents you, include a written authorization.
- Keeping your benefits during the appeal
If you ask, your Medicaid (and your patient liability or cost share) can continue while you wait for the hearing if DFCS receives your request within 10 days of the date of the notice. DFCS allows 12 days from the postmark if you have the envelope, or 14 days from the date on the notice if you do not. If your hearing request does not say you turn down continued benefits, DFCS assumes you want them. If you lose, DCH may make you repay the continued benefits.
- When the hearing is held
DFCS reviews your request within 3 business days and may contact you to try to settle it, then sends it to OSAH, which schedules the hearing. If DFCS does not send your request to OSAH within 30 days, you can file a petition directly with OSAH. The final hearing decision is due within 90 days from the date DFCS receives your written request, unless the hearing is postponed.
Medicaid health plan (managed care) in Georgia
- Appeal to the plan first
If you are in a Georgia Families managed care plan (Care Management Organization), appeal to your plan first using the instructions in its notice. After the plan's appeal decision, you can ask for a state fair hearing at OSAH. The federal managed care deadlines apply.
Law: 42 CFR 438.402, 438.408, 438.420
Write my appeal: free letters
Sources
The official sources for Georgia are listed on the Georgia page.