How To Become An Appeals Officer: What It Is and Career Path

What is an appeals officer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being an appeals officer. For example, did you know that they make an average of $26.61 an hour? That's $55,345 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow -1% and produce -600 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreAppeals OfficerUS Average

Salary

4.3

Avg. Salary $55,345

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

10.0

Growth rate -1%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

2.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.31%

Asian 6.50%

Black or African American 5.69%

Hispanic or Latino 7.92%

Unknown 4.39%

White 75.19%

Gender

female 64.29%

male 35.71%

Age - 45

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 45

Stress level

10.0

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

10.0

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

4.2

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become an appeals officer

Explore appeals officer education requirements

Most common appeals officer degrees

Bachelor's

53.8 %

Doctorate

23.7 %

Master's

14.0 %

Start to develop specific appeals officer skills

Skills	Percentages
Mediation	24.27%
Appeals	20.03%
Litigation	19.71%
Legal Research	16.96%
IRS	11.24%

Complete relevant appeals officer training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New appeals officers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as an appeals officer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real appeals officer resumes.

Research appeals officer duties and responsibilities

Process Medicare appealsutilize and interpret CPT and ICD-9 codesComputer skills
Work as a sub-contractor to CMS.
Resolve tax impasses through negotiation and mediation.
Explain how LIS and Medicaid works with the insurance company.

Prepare your appeals officer resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your appeals officer resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on an appeals officer resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable appeals officer resume templates

Build a professional appeals officer resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your appeals officer resume.