Claim denials have become commonplace in the field of medical billing and it is almost impossible to completely prevent these denials, as no matter how hard you try, you cannot achieve 100% success. But to reduce the claim denials and to get minimum denial, some guidelines have to be followed which we are going to tell you in the next post. It is very important and necessary to follow these guidelines otherwise your claims may get rejected for CO 29 denial code as timely filing has been expired. However a well organized medical billing denial management plan can go a long way in significantly reducing the number of large claim denials.
What is co 29 denial code?
Co 29 denial code is a claim denial code. Whenever someone submits a claim after the deadline, that claim is rejected with Insurance Denial Code CO 29. All payers have a specified time limit for submitting claims within which they have to pay within this deadline. Claims have to be submitted within.
Insurers easily recognize claims made after the deadline because whenever a payer goes to submit a claim after the deadline, the insurer calculates the deadline. does from If all the calculations are correct in the timing then the claim is accepted otherwise the claim is rejected with co 29 denial code.
Different insurance carriers have their own guidelines for timely filing of claims. Some can be as little as 30 days to submit a claim and some can be as long as two years. You must follow these guidelines strictly for your claim to be accepted, otherwise your claim will be denied can go.
CO 29 denial code meaning ?
CO 29 denial code means claim filing or claim submission time limit (which can be from 30 days to 2 years) has expired.
How to handle co 29 denial code?
If your insurance claim was denied for not being filed on time, and the claim was never submitted within the allowed time limit, it can be a little more difficult to appeal a claim acceptance in this situation. But if you have a valid reason for not submitting the claim and you feel that the insurer will accept your claim after hearing the reason, then you can appeal to the insurer based on that reason. To illustrate, if the patient said they had no insurance at all because the patient thought they were never covered, but the patient later found out they were in fact covered.
Do this investigation after claim rejection
Check When Insurance Received the Initial Claim
The first step to take when you receive denial code CO 29 is to check when the insurance company received the initial claim. This information can be found in the Explanation of Benefits (EOB) statement sent to you.
Check the Timely Filing Limit
The next step is to check the timely filing limit for that particular insurance company. You can find this information on the list of insurance companies or by contacting the insurance claims department representative. This will help you determine whether your claim was submitted within the time limit.
Calculate Whether the Claim Was Submitted Within the Time Limit
Once you have collected the necessary information, you can use a simple formula to calculate whether the claim was submitted within the insurance company’s time frame. The formula is as follows:
Time taken to submit the original Claim = Date Insurance received the initial Claim (Claim received date) – Date service provided to the patient (DOS)
If the claim was submitted within the insurance company’s time frame, you can contact the insurance claims department and return the claim for reprocessing. When doing so, state that the claim was submitted within the insurance company’s time frame.
Check Whether You Have Proof of Timely Filing
If the claim was submitted after the insurance company’s time frame, the first thing to do is check whether you have proof of timely filing. If you have proof showing you filed the claim within the time frame, you can appeal the claim with POTF (Proof of Timely Filing).
You can still file a claim after the filing deadline, try to appeal even if the claim is denied with a co 29 denial code. Write a letter to the insurer to file the claim again and try to explain what exactly happened, why the patient didn’t think they were covered, what they realized they were, etc etc etc. There is a 50/50 chance that the insurer may accept your claim and may not, in this case you have a 50/50 chance, but after the claim is denied, it is also a golden opportunity for you to file a claim again. In the context of not submitting the claim on time, if the reason given by you is really valid, eligible and solid, then there are chances that your claim will be accepted
Causes of CO 29 denial code
CO 29 denial is mostly due to insurance companies, these companies are not able to take proper follow up action after submission or delay in claim submission. There can be many reasons for claim denial but some of the major reasons are-
When a claim is initially submitted with incorrect information, it may be a number of situations such as a typo on the part of the biller, or it may be that the patient submitted the wrong insurance card to the medical office, or it may also The person who did the coding may not have copied the code correctly. Most of the claims are submitted within the timely filing limit but are not received by the insurance companies in time due to which the claim is rejected with co- 29 denial code.
Conclusion
Co 29 Denial code which stands for denial of claim if it is not submitted within the prescribed time limit. In the field of medical billing and coding, the use of denial codes is a common practice, due to which the payers get denied insurance, but most of the claims are submitted within the time limit, but the insurance companies will not receive these claims on time, so Many claims are denied. But the effect of co 29 denial code can be reduced to a great extent if we follow its guidelines properly, these guidelines can be different because each insurance company makes different guidelines for itself, these guidelines The time limit can be from 30 days to 2 years or less or more as per the instructions.
Once the claim is rejected, we can still file a claim again by giving a solid and valid reason. Through this post, we have come to know what is co 29 denial code, what it means and what can be the reasons for it and we co how to fix the deny code.
FAQs
Q1. How to fix CO 29 denied code?
Ans. To correct Co 29 Denide, try to resolve it by calling the insurance company, check the filing limit on time, count the days from the date of service to the date the insurance receives the claim. You can fix Denied by following steps like ask for reprocessing if received within the limit of claim filing time.
Q2. Can I appeal again for a rejected claim with co 29?
Ans. Yes, you can appeal again for a denied claim with co 29 but you must have a valid reason for doing so. You can submit a claim even after the expiry of the time limit with a solid and valid reason.
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