Denial code

CO 107 denial code

The related service this one depends on was not on the claim.

Fix and resubmit CO

What CO 107 means

CO: Contractual obligation. The provider absorbs it and cannot bill the patient.

So the balance cannot move to the patient. Either the appeal recovers it or the practice absorbs it. That makes the appeal decision the whole decision on this line.

Is it worth appealing?

Fix and resubmit. This is a correction, not an appeal. Appealing burns the deadline.

Why it fires

In the order we see it.

  1. An add-on code billed without its primary procedure.

  2. The related service went out on a separate claim and the payer could not link them.

What to do

Bill the qualifying service, or resubmit both lines on one claim so the payer can see the relationship.

What actually wins it

The documentation, not the argument.

The common mistake. Do not appeal an add-on code on its own. Without the primary on the claim the payer has nothing to attach it to.

Where this comes from. This is our own reading of the code, not the payer's and not a copy of the standards text. We classify it from how these denials actually resolve. Where we are unsure, we say so rather than guessing.

CO 107 description

The related service this one depends on was not on the claim. So the balance cannot move to the patient. Either the appeal recovers it or the practice absorbs it. That makes the appeal decision the whole decision on this line.

This is our plain-English wording, not the official X12 text. X12 asserts copyright over the published descriptions, so we write our own and say what it means for the money rather than restating the code.

Related codes

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