OA-187: Consumer Spending Account Payment Not Approved

What Does OA-187 Mean?

With OA (Other Adjustments), the spending account issue was flagged during coordination of benefits processing. This may occur when multiple payment sources are involved and the spending account portion was not approved.

CARC 187 indicates that a payment attempted through the patient's consumer spending account — such as a Flexible Spending Account (FSA), Health Savings Account (HSA), or Health Reimbursement Arrangement (HRA) — was not approved. The spending account administrator determined the expense could not be reimbursed from the account.

Common reasons include the service not being an eligible expense under IRS guidelines or the plan design, insufficient funds in the account, missing substantiation documentation, or the expense already being covered by primary insurance. This code affects the payment source rather than the service coverage itself — the service may be legitimate, but the spending account cannot be used to pay for it.

How to Resolve

1. Review the COB details Determine how the spending account fits into the overall payment coordination.
2. Resolve with the administrator Contact the spending account administrator to resolve the denial.
3. Resubmit if documentation resolves the issue If the denial can be resolved, resubmit through the proper payment channels.

How to Prevent OA-187

• Coordinate spending account payments with other insurance coverage before claim submission

Also Filed As

The same CARC 187 may appear with different Group Codes:

Related Denial Codes