Each year CMS includes its final wage index numbers as part of its final inpatient prospective payment system rule for acute care hospitals. CMS included the FY 2012 wage index numbers in the display copy of the rule posted on its website on August 1, 2010, and formally published in the August 18, 2011 Federal Register. Providers have 180 days to appeal their wage index numbers. The 180-day appeal period has historically been calculated to run from publication in the Federal Register, which would allow appeals for the FY 2012 wage indices to be filed by February 14, 2012. Providers that wish to operate under an abundance of caution may want to file their appeals by January 28, 2012, which uses the earlier date, when CMS posted the display copy on the internet, as the start date for the running of the 180 days.