Aging A/R Recovery and Follow-Up
We work old accounts receivable claim by claim, with each payer’s filing and appeal deadlines tracked, until every claim is paid, corrected, appealed or closed with a documented reason. That includes balances a previous biller stopped working.
What A/R Recovery Is
A/R recovery is the follow-up on claims that have stayed unpaid, usually those more than 90 days old: finding out where each one stands, then getting it paid, corrected, appealed or properly closed before the payer’s deadline passes. Most of it is work with insurance companies; old patient balances follow their own rules, covered below.
An aging report groups unpaid balances by age: 0 to 30 days, 31 to 60, 61 to 90, and over 90. Over 90 days is where the risk is, because filing limits and appeal windows start to close. The free days in A/R calculator shows your days in A/R and the share over 90 days.
The Deadlines Behind Old Claims
Every unpaid claim runs against two clocks: the filing deadline, counted from the date of service, and the appeal window, counted from the denial. A claim that has missed both can rarely be paid, so the work goes in order of the nearest deadline.
| Payer | Filing deadline | When a claim is late |
|---|---|---|
| Original Medicare | One calendar year from the date of service. | Medicare denies it, and the exceptions are narrow. |
| New York Medicaid, fee-for-service | 90 days from the date of service. | Accepted only for a reason outside the practice’s control, with a delay reason code, within 30 days of the claim coming within its control, such as the day a primary insurer’s remittance arrives. Problems with the practice’s own billing system or vendor do not qualify, and these denials have no appeal process. Two years from the date of service is the outer limit. |
| Plans regulated by New York | 120 days from the date of service, unless the contract allows longer. Contracts for Medicaid managed care and some other public programs can set a shorter limit, but not under 90 days. | A claim denied only for lateness must be reconsidered when the practice shows an unusual occurrence and a pattern of filing on time. The plan may reduce payment by up to 25 percent, and may deny in full a claim filed 365 days or more after the service. |
| Medicare Advantage, self-funded and out-of-state plans | Set by the plan’s contract or provider manual. | Check the manual. Corrected claims and secondary claims can have separate windows. |
Resubmissions have deadlines too. New York Medicaid requires a denied or returned claim to be corrected and resubmitted within 60 days of the notice, and a returned claim that is not correctly resubmitted within 60 days, or on the second resubmission, can no longer be paid. For the last filing day on any date of service, use the free timely filing calculator.
Prompt payment in New York. A plan regulated by New York must pay an undisputed claim within 30 days of receiving it electronically, or 45 days on paper or fax. Within 30 days it must pay, deny, or ask for the information it needs. A late payment owes interest at 12 percent a year or the rate the state sets for corporate taxes, whichever is greater. An electronic claim with no answer after 30 days calls for follow-up, not more waiting.
Sources: 42 CFR 424.44, Time limits for filing claims, and Medicare Claims Processing Manual, Chapter 1, section 70; 18 NYCRR 540.6, Billing for medical assistance; eMedNY, Frequently Asked Questions on Delayed Claim Submission and Information for All Providers; New York Insurance Law § 3224-a, subsections (a) to (c) on payment and interest, (g) on the filing period and (h) on late claims. Checked November 12, 2026.
How We Work an Aging Report
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Sort by deadline
Unpaid claims are grouped by payer and by age, and the ones nearest their filing or appeal deadline are worked first, because they are the ones that can still be lost.
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Find where each claim stands
Each claim’s status is checked with the payer: never received, still in process, denied, paid but not posted, paid less than the contract, or sent to the wrong plan.
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Act on the reason
Each status has its own fix, shown below, and denials go through our denial management and appeals process. A claim past every deadline is closed with the reason recorded, so the report shows what was lost and why.
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Report what changed
Every month you see what was billed, what was paid and what we are still chasing, with aging by payer.
| Where an old claim stands | What it needs |
|---|---|
| The payer has no record of it | Resubmitted with proof it was filed on time, such as the clearinghouse’s acceptance report, when the original went out before the deadline. |
| Still in process | Followed up with the payer. With a plan regulated by New York, a clean claim past the prompt payment deadline also owes interest. |
| Denied | Corrected and resubmitted, reopened or appealed inside the payer’s window. |
| Paid but not posted | Posted and matched to the deposit, so the balance and the aging report are right. |
| Paid less than the contract | Compared with your fee schedule and sent back to the payer to reprocess or appeal. |
| Billed to the wrong plan, or a secondary not billed | Sent to the right payer, or to the secondary with the primary’s remittance. |
| Patient responsibility | Moved to patient billing: a statement, and a plain-language answer to any question. |
Changing billers
When we take over billing, we start on the claim backlog and aging A/R from the first day, including balances a previous biller stopped working. Your first monthly report sets the baseline for every one after it. How onboarding works.
Old patient balances
Patient balances age too, and they follow different rules. In New York, a hospital or licensed health care professional must start a lawsuit over a medical debt within three years of treatment, and consumer reporting agencies may not report medical debt. Our team handles statements, balance questions and payment follow-up in plain language, so the front desk is not also the collections department.
Sources: CPLR 213-d; General Business Law § 380-j(a)(3).
Related services and guides
- Denial Management and Appeals
- Medical Billing Services
- Revenue Cycle Management
- Workers’ Compensation Billing, where objections and filing windows follow the Board’s rules
- Medical billing metrics and KPIs
A/R Recovery FAQ
What is A/R recovery in medical billing?
A/R recovery is the follow-up on claims that have stayed unpaid, usually those more than 90 days old: finding out where each one stands, then getting it paid, corrected, appealed or closed with a documented reason before the payer’s deadline passes. Most of it is work with insurance companies rather than patients.
What counts as aging A/R?
Unpaid balances grouped by age: 0 to 30 days, 31 to 60, 61 to 90, and over 90. Balances over 90 days are the ones at risk, because filing limits and appeal windows start to close. Our free calculator shows days in A/R and the share of A/R over 90 days.
Can a claim past the timely filing limit still be paid?
Sometimes. If the claim was sent on time and the payer has no record of it, proof of the original submission is the basis for asking the payer to process it. A plan regulated by New York must pay a claim denied only for lateness when the practice shows an unusual occurrence and a pattern of filing on time, though it may reduce payment by up to 25 percent. New York Medicaid accepts late claims only for reasons outside the practice’s control, and Medicare’s exceptions are narrow.
Do you work A/R that a previous biller left behind?
Yes. When we take over billing, we start on the claim backlog and aging A/R from the first day, including balances a previous biller stopped working, and each claim is worked against its payer’s deadline.
How long does a New York health plan have to pay a claim?
A plan regulated by New York must pay an undisputed claim within 30 days of receiving it electronically, or 45 days on paper or fax. Within 30 days it must pay, deny, or ask for the information it needs, and a late payment owes interest at 12 percent a year or the rate the state sets for corporate taxes, whichever is greater.
Is A/R recovery the same as sending accounts to collections?
No. A/R recovery is mostly follow-up with insurance companies on claims that should have been paid. Old patient balances follow different rules: in New York, a hospital or licensed health care professional must start a lawsuit over a medical debt within three years of treatment, and consumer reporting agencies may not report medical debt.
Contact Us
Request a Free Baseline Review
Tell us your specialty, how many providers you have, who handles billing today, and the EHR or billing system you use. We sign a business associate agreement before you send any reports, then look at your aging balances, days in A/R, denial rate and payer mix, and come back with where claims are being denied or left uncollected and what we would change.
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Office location
99 Washington Avenue, Suite 1008, Albany, New York, 12210