CO 147 denial code

Claim adjustment reason code 147. Often reported as CO 147.

Your negotiated rate is missing or expired

Unofficial reference. This is our own plain-English explanation, not the official code text. Payer rules differ. Verify with the payer and the official X12 code list. AlphaPrefix is not affiliated with X12, CMS or any payer. Data last updated Nov 11, 2026.

What 147 means

The payer could not price the claim at a negotiated rate because the rate has expired or is not loaded in its system.

The payer looked for your negotiated rate for this service and either found it had expired or found no rate at all. The claim may be denied or priced at a default level as a result.

This is usually an administrative problem between your contracting team and the payer. A new contract term, a renewal or a fee schedule load often fixes it.

Group codes seen with 147

On a remittance, 147 comes after a group code. These are the ones it is most often reported with:

• CO 147 (Contractual Obligation): The provider's side of the ledger. The reduction comes from the payer contract or a rule the provider has to follow, and the patient normally cannot be billed for it.

The payer chooses the group code for each adjustment, so the same reason code can appear with another group code on your remittance. Read the two together. More about group codes.

Common causes

• Your contract or fee schedule reached its end date and the renewal was not loaded.
• The service is not listed on your contract's fee schedule.
• The payer loaded the contract under a different tax ID or provider number.

What to do next

1. Check your contract dates and fee schedule for this service and date.
2. Contact your contracting team or the payer's provider relations to get the rate loaded.
3. Ask the payer to reprocess affected claims once the rate is in place.

Related codes

• 45 (reason code) Charge exceeds the allowed amount
• 131 (reason code) One-time discount for this claim