skip to content
Thank you for visiting First Coast Service Options' Medicare provider website. This website is intended exclusively for Medicare providers and health care industry professionals to find the latest Medicare news and information affecting the provider community.
To enable us to present you with customized content that focuses on your area of interest, please select your preferences below:
Select which best describes you:
Select your location:
Select your line of business:

By clicking Continue below you agree to the following:

LICENSE FOR USE OF "PHYSICIAN'S CURRENT PROCEDURAL TERMINOLOGY" (CPT), FOURTH EDITION End User/Point and Click Agreement: CPT codes, descriptions and other data only are copyright 2022 American Medical Association (AMA).

All Rights Reserved (or such other date of publication of CPT). CPT is a trademark of the AMA.
You, your employees, and agents are authorized to use CPT only as contained in the following authorized materials:
Local Coverage Determinations (LCDs),
Local Medical Review Policies (LMRPs),
Bulletins/Newsletters,
Program Memoranda and Billing Instructions,
Coverage and Coding Policies,
Program Integrity Bulletins and Information,
Educational/Training Materials,
Special mailings,
Fee Schedules;

internally within your organization within the United States for the sole use by yourself, employees and agents. Use is limited to use in Medicare, Medicaid, or other programs administered by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), formerly known as Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA). You agree to take all necessary steps to insure that your employees and agents abide by the terms of this agreement. Any use not authorized herein is prohibited, including by way of illustration and not by way of limitation, making copies of CPT for resale and/or license, transferring copies of CPT to any party not bound by this agreement, creating any modified or derivative work of CPT, or making any commercial use of CPT. License to use CPT for any use not authorized here in must be obtained through the AMA, CPT Intellectual Property Services, 515 N. State Street, Chicago, IL 60610. Applications are available at the AMA website. Applicable FARS/DFARS restrictions apply to government use.

AMA Disclaimer of Warranties and Liabilities CPT is provided "as is" without warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied, including but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. No fee schedules, basic unit, relative values or related listings are included in CPT. The AMA does not directly or indirectly practice medicine or dispense medical services. The responsibility for the content of this file/product is with CMS and no endorsement by the AMA is intended or implied. The AMA disclaims responsibility for any consequences or liability attributable to or related to any use, non-use, or interpretation of information contained or not contained in this file/product. This agreement will terminate upon notice if you violate its terms. The AMA is a third party beneficiary to this agreement.

CMS Disclaimer: The scope of this license is determined by the AMA, the copyright holder. Any questions pertaining to the license or use of the CPT must be addressed to the AMA. End Users do not act for or on behalf of the CMS. CMS DISCLAIMS RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY LIABILITY ATTRIBUTABLE TO END USER USE OF THE CPT. CMS WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIMS ATTRIBUTABLE TO ANY ERRORS, OMISSIONS, OR OTHER INACCURACIES IN THE INFORMATION OR MATERIAL CONTAINED ON THIS PAGE. In no event shall CMS be liable for direct, indirect, special, incidental, or consequential damages arising out of the use of such information or material.

AMA - U.S. Government Rights

This product includes CPT which is commercial technical data and/or computer data bases and/or commercial computer software and/or commercial computer software documentation, as applicable which were developed exclusively at private expense by the American Medical Association, 515 North State Street, Chicago, Illinois, 60610. U.S. Government rights to use, modify, reproduce, release, perform, display, or disclose these technical data and/or computer data bases and/or computer software and/or computer software documentation are subject to the limited rights restrictions of DFARS 252.227-7015(b)(2)(June 1995) and/or subject to the restrictions of DFARS 227.7202-1(a)(June 1995) and DFARS 227.7202-3(a )June 1995), as applicable for U.S. Department of Defense procurements and the limited rights restrictions of FAR 52.227-14 (June 1987) and/or subject to the restricted rights provisions of FAR 52.227-14 (June 1987) and FAR 52.227-19 (June 1987), as applicable, and any applicable agency FAR Supplements, for non-Department Federal procurements.

ADA CURRENT DENTAL TERMINOLOGY, (CDT)
End User/Point and Click Agreement: These materials contain Current Dental Terminology (CDTTM), Copyright © 2016 American Dental Association (ADA). All rights reserved. CDT is a trademark of the ADA.

THE LICENSE GRANTED HEREIN IS EXPRESSLY CONDITIONED UPON YOUR ACCEPTANCE OF ALL TERMS AND CONDITIONS CONTAINED IN THIS AGREEMENT. BY CLICKING ON THE BUTTON LABELED "ACCEPT", YOU HEREBY ACKNOWLEDGE THAT YOU HAVE READ, UNDERSTOOD AND AGREED TO ALL TERMS AND CONDITIONS SET FORTH IN THIS AGREEMENT.

IF YOU DO NOT AGREE WITH ALL TERMS AND CONDITIONS SET FORTH HEREIN, CLICK ON THE BUTTON LABELED "DECLINE" AND EXIT FROM THIS COMPUTER SCREEN.

IF YOU ARE ACTING ON BEHALF OF AN ORGANIZATION, YOU REPRESENT THAT YOU ARE AUTHORIZED TO ACT ON BEHALF OF SUCH ORGANIZATION AND THAT YOUR ACCEPTANCE OF THE TERMS OF THIS AGREEMENT CREATES A LEGALLY ENFORCEABLE OBLIGATION OF THE ORGANIZATION. AS USED HEREIN, "YOU" AND "YOUR" REFER TO YOU AND ANY ORGANIZATION ON BEHALF OF WHICH YOU ARE ACTING.

Subject to the terms and conditions contained in this Agreement, you, your employees and agents are authorized to use CDT only as contained in the following authorized materials and solely for internal use by yourself, employees and agents within your organization within the United States and its territories. Use of CDT is limited to use in programs administered by Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). You agree to take all necessary steps to ensure that your employees and agents abide by the terms of this agreement. You acknowledge that the ADA holds all copyright, trademark and other rights in CDT. You shall not remove, alter, or obscure any ADA copyright notices or other proprietary rights notices included in the materials.

Any use not authorized herein is prohibited, including by way of illustration and not by way of limitation, making copies of CDT for resale and/or license, transferring copies of CDT to any party not bound by this agreement, creating any modified or derivative work of CDT, or making any commercial use of CDT. License to use CDT for any use not authorized herein must be obtained through the American Dental Association, 211 East Chicago Avenue, Chicago, IL 60611. Applications are available at the ADA website.

Applicable Federal Acquisition Regulation Clauses (FARS)\Department of restrictions apply to Government Use.

ADA DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES AND LIABILITIES: CDT is provided "as is" without warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied, including but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. No fee schedules, basic unit, relative values or related listings are included in CDT. The ADA does not directly or indirectly practice medicine or dispense dental services. The sole responsibility for the software, including any CDT and other content contained therein, is with (insert name of applicable entity) or the CMS; and no endorsement by the ADA is intended or implied. The ADA expressly disclaims responsibility for any consequences or liability attributable to or related to any use, non-use, or interpretation of information contained or not contained in this file/product. This Agreement will terminate upon notice to you if you violate the terms of this Agreement. The ADA is a third party beneficiary to this Agreement.

CMS DISCLAIMER: The scope of this license is determined by the ADA, the copyright holder. Any questions pertaining to the license or use of the CDT should be addressed to the ADA. End Users do not act for or on behalf of the CMS. CMS DISCLAIMS RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY LIABILITY ATTRIBUTABLE TO END USER USE OF THE CDT. CMS WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIMS ATTRIBUTABLE TO ANY ERRORS, OMISSIONS, OR OTHER INACCURACIES IN THE INFORMATION OR MATERIAL COVERED BY THIS LICENSE. In no event shall CMS be liable for direct, indirect, special, incidental, or consequential damages arising out of the use of such information or material.

End Disclaimer


This website provides information and news about the Medicare program for health care professionals only. All communication and issues regarding your Medicare benefits are handled directly by Medicare and not through this website. For the most comprehensive experience, we encourage you to visit Medicare.gov or call 1-800-MEDICARE. In the event your provider fails to submit your Medicare claim, please view these resources for claim assistance.
Join eNews       En Español
Text Size:
YouTube LinkedIn Email Print
Send a link to this page
[Multiple email addresses must be separated by a semicolon.]
Last Modified: 1/8/2025 Location: FL, PR, USVI Business: Part A

Credit balance report

Q1. Is it necessary to complete the Medicare credit balance report certification if we do not have any credit balances to report?
A1. No. Starting December 1, 2024, providers aren't required to submit credit balance reports (CMS-838) on a quarterly basis.
Q2. I adjusted my outstanding credit balance, but the adjustment has not processed by the end of the quarter. Do I include this on my credit balance report?
A2. Yes. If you cannot get your adjustments to finalize timely, you should submit a CMS-838 Credit Balance Report for the corresponding quarter.
Q3. Are there instructions for completing the credit balance report?
A3. If you must submit a credit balance report, please refer to CMS’ Medicare Provider Instructions external pdf file.
Q4. If we choose to repay the credit balance by check, to whom should it be made payable and where should it be mailed?
A4. You must use this address when repaying your credit balance by check. Please be sure to include your Medicare credit balance report certification page, your completed CMS 838, and any additional documentation along with your check.
Mail to:
First Coast Service Options
Attn: Cashier
P.O. Box 3162
Mechanicsburg, PA 17055-1837
Q5. Where do we send reports using other payment types?
A5. You can fax reports using other payment types to 904-361-0359 or submit through SPOT's secure documentation feature.
Q6. How can we verify receipt of our reports?
A6. You can easily verify receipt of your report by using the credit balance status tool available on our website. By simply keying your provider transaction access number and the corresponding quarter in mm/dd/yyyy format, results display the status of your report. Please allow time for us to receive and manually enter your reports into our database before emailing credit balance inquiries at JNCreditbalanceinquiries@fcso.com or re-faxing your reports.
Q7. What happens if the credit balance status tool says our report wasn't received?
A7. It may take up to 10 days for credits to show in the credit balance status tool, as these are manually entered into our database. If you've waited the time indicated and your report is still not found on the tool, it is possible your report was rejected.
The credit balance status tool will provide the date your report was received, the dollars associated with Part A and Part B if credits were reported, and whether the report is open or closed. If the status is 'open', your report is in the queue to be processed. If the status is 'closed', your report has already been processed.
Q8. Why would my report be rejected?
A8. There are numerous reasons why reports are rejected. One reason for rejections is when an 838-certification page is incomplete or invalid. Please make sure you're using the following when completing your certification:
The correct version of the CMS-838 Certification Page/Detail Page. Please use the correct version of the CMS-838 Credit Balance Report. You can type directly into this version which is strongly encouraged to ensure your report is legible. Once completed in full, the report should be printed for signatures.
6-digit provider number (do not use NPI or the dash)
The appropriate quarter ending date (must be in mm/dd/yyyy format and must be either 03/31/20xx, 06/30/20xx, 09/30/20xx, or 12/31/20xx)
Signature is required
Block must be checked (check only one block)
If no credits to report, check either the first or third block. Check the second block only when credits are reported.
If your certification page meets all the requirements, your report can still reject if you reported credits.
The detail page(s) must be completed in full.
All header information must be completed, including the provider number, quarter ending, Part A or B, and contact information for the person we can reach if questions arise.
Blocks 1-15 should be completed in full, including the beneficiary’s name, Medicare Beneficiary Identifier (MBI) number, and ICN.
Here are some of the reasons why reports containing detail pages are rejected:
Invalid type of bill (block 4)
Missing admin / discharge / pay dates (blocks 5-7)
Amount of credit balance (block 9)
Method of payment (block 11)
"X" is used if you've initiated the adjustment, but it didn't finalize before the end of the quarter.
"A" is used if the adjustment wasn't initiated and a corrected UB-04 is required to be submitted with your report.
"C" is used if you're submitting a check with your submission. Reports with checks must be mailed to the physical address and the check must accompany your report. Copies of the report must not be faxed!
Reason for credit balance (block 13) (numeric only).
"1" indicates a duplicate.
"2" indicates MSP, therefore, in addition to indicating a 2 in block 13, blocks 14 and 15 must be completed.
"3" indicates 'other' (nothing goes in block 14; block 15 can be completed with comments, but comments are not necessary).
Value code (block 14). Complete ONLY when MSP is reported in block 13.
Primary payer (block 15). Complete ONLY when MSP is reported. However, comments can be added when explaining "3" as the reason for credit balance.
Q9. How are we notified if our report was rejected?
A9. Only in cases where you've submitted reports containing credits will you receive a call regarding a rejected report.
Q10. Where do I send my corrected report?
A10. You may fax your corrected report, in its entirety, to 904-361-0359 (do not mail) or through SPOT's secure documentation feature.
Q11. Where can I find valuable information on credit balance reporting?
A11. Everything you need to file your credit balance report can be found on the credit balance reporting page of our website. This page includes links to quarterly updates, the official version of the CMS-838 Credit Balance Report and instructions on how to complete the report, and an excel version of the detail page. Additionally, you will find the fax number and mailing address for check submissions, as well as link to our FAQ document.
Q12. Who do I contact if I have questions about my reports?
A12. Email JNCreditbalanceinquiries@fcso.com with any questions or concerns about reporting.
Q13. How long must we submit credit balance reports after an affiliated facility is no longer a Medicare facility (i.e., SNF closed and officially tied-out of Medicare program)?
A13. Once a facility closes its doors and notifies their Medicare administrative contractor that they are no longer in operation, following an official ‘tie-out’ process, the facility is no longer required to file credit balance reports.
First Coast Service Options (First Coast) strives to ensure that the information available on our provider website is accurate, detailed, and current. Therefore, this is a dynamic site and its content changes daily. It is best to access the site to ensure you have the most current information rather than printing articles or forms that may become obsolete without notice.