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Worth filling in if it arrived late. It can only give you more time, never less.
These are the federal windows. The deadline printed on your own letter governs, and it may be longer — never shorter than a federal floor. If the two disagree, work from whichever is earlier and say so in writing.
Why it shows you two dates instead of one
The regulations that matter here do not all start the clock in the same place, and the difference is not academic. For an employer or marketplace plan, 29 CFR 2560.503-1(h)(3)(i) counts from the day the notice reached you. Plans routinely count from the date they printed on it, which is earlier.
Working from the printed date is therefore the safe move, and it is what most advice tells you to do. But it fails badly in one specific case: if the letter arrived late — forwarded mail, an old address on file, mail held back by someone in the house — then the conservative date can already be behind you while the legal one is still weeks away. A tool that showed you only the first number would tell you your appeal was over when it was not.
So it shows both, says which regulation each comes from, and never tells you that you have run out of time. Only the plan can say that, in writing, and it has to give a reason.
One exception worth knowing: for Medicaid managed care, 42 CFR 438.402(c)(2)(ii) counts from the date on the notice. There the printed date is not a margin, it is the law, and the tool says so.
Last updated 2026-08-12 · Not legal or medical advice