CARC 116 Active

OA-116: Advance Indemnification Notice Requirements Not Met

TL;DR

Adjustment in a COB or secondary payer context. Review the coordination of benefits details to determine the responsible party.

Action
Review & Decide
Who Pays
Depends
Appeal
No
Patient Impact
Indirect
Disclaimer
This content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional billing advice. Always verify information against your payer contracts and current coding guidelines. Consult a certified billing specialist for specific claim issues.

What Does OA-116 Mean?

When paired with Group Code OA, CARC 116 (Advance Indemnification Notice Requirements Not Met) is processed as an adjustment outside the standard CO/PR classifications. This typically occurs in secondary payer or coordination of benefits scenarios. Review the remittance details and the COB arrangement to determine financial responsibility and appropriate next steps.

CARC 116 indicates advance indemnification notice requirements not met. The payer determined that the service or a portion of it does not meet coverage criteria under the patient's current plan benefits or the applicable coverage rules.

Common scenarios that trigger this adjustment include: the provider did not issue an Advance Beneficiary Notice to the Medicare patient before providing a service that Medicare does not cover, making the provider liable; The ABN was issued but was not properly completed (missing patient signature, missing date, incomplete service description, or wrong form version); The ABN was given to the patient after the service was already provided, which does not meet the advance notice requirement. The group code paired with CARC 116 determines who bears the financial responsibility — CO places it on the provider as a contractual obligation, PR shifts it to the patient, OA indicates a coordination of benefits or other payer adjustment.

How to Resolve

  1. Review the coordination of benefits Examine the OA-116 adjustment to understand how it fits within the primary/secondary payer relationship or other multi-payer context.
  2. Verify primary payer adjudication Review the primary payer's EOB to understand the basis for the secondary payer's OA adjustment.
  3. Determine the responsible party Based on the COB review, identify whether the adjustment should be absorbed, billed to another payer, or if additional documentation is needed.
  4. Appeal or resubmit if needed If the OA adjustment appears incorrect based on the COB arrangement, submit an appeal or corrected claim with the appropriate documentation.
  5. Follow up Monitor the claim status and take additional action as needed based on the COB determination.
Do Not Appeal This Code

Advance Indemnification Notice Requirements Not Met grouped under OA is an Other Adjustment that doesn't fall into the standard contractual write-off or patient responsibility categories. Whether action is needed depends on the specific reason — review any accompanying RARC codes and payer guidance to decide whether this is a final adjustment to accept or an issue to resolve through resubmission.

How to Prevent OA-116

Also Filed As

The same CARC 116 may appear with different Group Codes:

CO-116 PR-116

Related Denial Codes

OA-74 — Indirect Medical Education Adjustment OA-75 — Direct Medical Education Adjustment OA-76 — Disproportionate Share Adjustment OA-85 — Patient Interest Adjustment OA-89 — Professional Fees Removed from Charges

Sources

  1. https://www.cms.gov/medicare/coverage/advance-beneficiary-notice
  2. https://www.aapc.com/resources/claim-adjustment-reason-code-carc
  3. https://www.mdclarity.com/denial-code/116
  4. Codes maintained by X12. Visit x12.org for official definitions.