(a) The Board will consist of five members appointed by the Secretary. All shall be knowledgeable in the field of cost reimbursement. At least one shall be a certified public accountant. Two Board members shall be representative of providers of services.

(b) The term of office for Board members shall be 3 years, except that initial appointments may be for such shorter terms as the Secretary may designate to permit staggered terms of office. No member shall serve more than two consecutive 3-year terms of office. The Secretary shall have the authority to terminate a Board member's term of office for good cause.

(c) Composition of the Board. The Secretary designates one member of the Board as Chairperson. The Chairperson coordinates and directs the administrative activities of the Board and the conduct of proceedings before the Board. CMS provides administrative support for the Board. Under the direction of the Chairperson, the Board is solely responsible for the content of its decisions.

(d) Quorum.

(1) The Board must have a quorum in order to issue one of the decisions specified as final, or deemed final by the Administrator, under §405.1875(a)(2)(i), (a)(2)(iii), and (a)(2)(iv), but a quorum is not required for other Board actions.

(2) Three Board members, at least one of whom is representative of providers, are required in order to constitute a quorum.

(3) The opinion of the majority of those Board members issuing a decision specified as final, or deemed as final by the Administrator, under §405.1875(a)(2), constitutes the Board's decision.

(e) Hearings. The Board may conduct a hearing and issue a hearing decision (as described in §405.1871 of this subpart) on a specific matter at issue in an appeal, provided it finds jurisdiction over the matter at issue in accordance with §405.1840 of this part and determines it has the legal authority to fully resolve the issue (as described in §405.1867 of this subpart).

(f) Oral hearings.

(1) In accordance with paragraph (d) of this section, the Board does not need a quorum in order to hold an oral hearing (as described in §405.1851 of this subpart). The Chairperson of the Board may designate one or more Board members to conduct an oral hearing (where less than a quorum conducts the hearing). Because the presence of all Board members is not required at an oral hearing, the Board, at its discretion, may hold more than one oral hearing at a time.

(2) Waiver of oral hearings. With the contractor's agreement and the Board's approval, the provider (or, in the case of group appeals, the group of providers) and any related organizations (as described in §405.1843(a) of this subpart) may waive any right to an oral hearing and stipulate that the Board may issue a hearing decision on the written record. An on-the-written-record hearing consists of all the evidence and written argument or comments submitted to the Board and included in the record (as described in §405.1865 of this subpart).

(g) Hearing decisions. The Board's hearing decision must be based on the transcript of any oral hearing before the Board, any matter admitted into evidence at a hearing or deemed admissible evidence for the record (as described in §405.1855 of this subpart), and any written argument or comments timely submitted to the Board (as described in §405.1865 of this subpart).

(h) Remands.

(1) Except as provided in paragraph (h)(3) of this section, a Board remand order may be reviewed solely during the course of Administrator review of one of the Board decisions specified in §405.1875(a)(2) of this subpart), or of judicial review of a final agency decision as described in §405.1877(a) and (c)(3) of this part, as applicable.

(2) The Board may order a remand requiring specific actions of a party to the appeal. In ordering a remand, the Board must—

(i) Specify any actions required of the party and explain the factual and legal basis for ordering a remand;

(ii) Issue the remand order in writing; and

(iii) Mail the remand order promptly to the parties and any affected nonparty, such as CMS, to the appeal.

(3) A Board remand order is not subject to immediate Administrator review unless the Administrator determines that the remand order might otherwise evade his or her review (as described in §405.1875(a)(2)(iv) of this subpart).

[39 FR 34515, Sept. 26, 1974, as amended at 41 FR 52051, Nov. 26, 1976. Redesignated at 42 FR 52826, Sept. 30, 1977, as amended at 73 FR 30256, May 23, 2008]