public-service · medicare claim filing deadline
Medicare Claim Filing Deadline: What 42 CFR 424.44 Sets
The federal regulation's own filing deadline for Medicare claims, current and prior rules, quoted directly with the source.
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Updated: Sources: 1
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What matters now
- For services furnished on or after January 1, 2010, the deadline is 1 calendar year after the date of service.
- The regulation still prints the pre-2010 filing rule instead of removing it from the section text.
- The pre-2010 rule split the deadline based on when in the calendar year the service was furnished.
- The section's citation trail shows amendments from 1988 through 2010, meaning this deadline was revised more than once.
- The regulation also provides defined extensions, such as for retroactive Medicare entitlement or MA/PACE disenrollment.
For services furnished on or after January 1, 2010, the Medicare claims-filing regulation states that “the claim must be filed no later than the close of the period ending 1 calendar year after the date of service” (42 CFR § 424.44, https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-42/section-424.44). That is the current deadline the regulation itself sets. This article covers only what that section states in its own text — not whether a specific claim was filed, what a provider may bill a patient, or private-insurance filing limits.
This original record-reading guide is a general reading aid, not cited evidence. It does not depict a source record; the article text and source links provide the facts.
Key points
- For services furnished on or after January 1, 2010, the regulation sets the deadline at “1 calendar year after the date of service.”
- The regulation still prints the earlier, pre-2010 filing rule alongside the current one, rather than removing it from the section text.
- The pre-2010 rule split the deadline by when in the calendar year the service was furnished.
- The section’s amendment history runs from 1988 through 2010, showing this deadline has been revised more than once.
- The regulation also provides for defined extensions in certain situations, such as retroactive Medicare entitlement or disenrollment from a Medicare Advantage or PACE plan.
Current filing deadline
The regulation’s operative current rule states: “for services furnished on or after January 1, 2010, the claim must be filed no later than the close of the period ending 1 calendar year after the date of service” (https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-42/section-424.44). In plain terms, the section measures the deadline from the date the service was furnished, and gives exactly one calendar year from that date.
Pre-2010 rule
The same section retains the filing rule that applied before the 2010 change. It states: “for services furnished before January 1, 2010, the claim must be filed—(i) On or before December 31 of the following year for services that were furnished during the first 9 months of a calendar year; and (ii) On or before December 31st of the second following year for services that were furnished during the last 3 months of the calendar year” (https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-42/section-424.44). This older rule is not deleted from the current text — it sits alongside the current one-year rule, distinguished by the date the service was furnished.
The section’s amendment history
The eCFR text of 42 CFR § 424.44 carries its own citation trail: “[53 FR 6634, Mar. 2, 1988, as amended at 65 FR 83153, Dec. 29, 2000; 73 FR 69939, Nov. 19, 2008; 75 FR 73627, Nov. 29, 2010]” (https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-42/section-424.44). This citation trail lists the section’s original 1988 publication and later amendments in 2000, 2008, and 2010.
Extensions exist for certain situations
Beyond the standard deadlines above, the section provides for defined extensions in specific circumstances — for example, when a beneficiary receives retroactive Medicare entitlement, or when a beneficiary disenrolls from a Medicare Advantage plan or a Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) plan. The details of how those extensions apply in a given case are set out elsewhere in the same section and are outside what this article covers.
What this article does not answer
This article restates only what 42 CFR § 424.44 says about filing deadlines. It does not determine whether any particular claim was actually filed on time. It does not address what a provider may bill a patient, including balance billing or patient responsibility questions, which are governed by separate rules. It does not cover private (non-Medicare) insurance filing limits, which are set by each insurer’s own policy terms rather than this federal regulation. And it is not clinical advice or guidance about resolving an individual person’s bill — anyone with a specific billing question should contact their provider, their Medicare plan, or 1-800-MEDICARE directly.