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CO-147 Denial Code: Contracted Rate Expired or Missing

CO-147 means the payer could not find a current contracted or negotiated rate for you. The contract may have expired, a rate may not have been loaded for this service, or your provider record may not be linked to the contract, so the payer denied or priced the claim incorrectly.

Code: CO-147 (CARC 147)
Status: Active In use since June 30, 2002.
Code set: Claim Adjustment Reason Codes (CARC)
Group codes: CO (Contractual Obligation): The payer treats the pricing gap as a provider-side issue. The amount should not be billed to the patient; resolve it with the payer.
Official description: Provider contracted/negotiated rate expired or not on file.
X12 Claim Adjustment Reason Codes, retrieved September 25, 2026
Last verified: September 24, 2026 against the official X12 list.

What CO-147 means

CARC 147 reads provider contracted/negotiated rate expired or not on file. The payer tried to price the claim using your contract and could not find a valid rate for the service, provider, or date. Without a rate, it either denies the claim or processes it differently than you expect.

This is a contract-administration problem, not a coding or clinical one. It commonly appears after a contract renewal, a fee schedule amendment, a new service line, a new location, or a new provider joining the group.

Example: a group renews its contract with new rates effective January 1. The payer loads the new rates late, so January claims deny with CO-147. After the payer updates its system, it reprocesses the affected claims.

Common causes

The contract or fee schedule expired and the renewal was not signed or loaded on time.
A newly added service is not included in the payer’s rate file for your contract.
A new provider or location is not linked to the group’s contract in the payer’s system.
A change of TIN, ownership, or billing NPI that separated claims from the existing contract.
Date-of-service ranges on the rate file that do not cover the service date.

How to fix it

Check your contract status and effective dates for the date of service.
Call provider relations or contracting, not just claims customer service, and ask whether the rate is loaded and linked to your NPI and TIN.
Once the payer fixes its file, request a project or batch reprocessing of all affected claims rather than appealing each one.
If the contract truly lapsed, negotiate a renewal and ask how claims during the gap will be handled.
Do not bill the patient while the pricing issue is unresolved.

How to prevent it

Track contract expiration and renewal dates, and start renewals well before they lapse.
Confirm with the payer that new rates, services, providers, and locations are loaded before you bill them.
Update the payer promptly after any change in TIN, NPI, or ownership. See provider enrollment denials.
Monitor for CO-147 and unexpected allowed amounts with an ERA Analyzer, so problems are caught after the first few claims.

Remark codes that may appear with CO-147

N65 (Procedure code or procedure rate count cannot be determined, or was not on file, for the date of service/provider.): The procedure code or rate could not be determined or was not on file for the date of service or provider.

CO-45 (Charge exceeds fee schedule/maximum allowable or contracted/legislated fee arrangement.): Normal fee schedule reduction, which applies once a rate is on file.
CO-B7 (This provider was not certified/eligible to be paid for this procedure/service on this date of service.): The provider was not certified or eligible to be paid for the service on that date.
CO-242 (Services not provided by network/primary care providers.): Services not provided by network or primary care providers.
CO-131 (Claim specific negotiated discount.): A claim-specific negotiated discount.

CO-147 FAQ

Is CO-147 my fault or the payer's?

It can be either. Sometimes a contract truly expired; often the payer's system simply has not loaded a renewal, amendment, or new provider. Find out which before doing anything else.

Should I resubmit the claim?

Usually no. Once the payer loads the rate, ask it to reprocess the affected claims. Resubmitting can create duplicates.

What if my contract really expired?

Claims may be processed as out of network or denied. Contact the payer's contracting team immediately and ask how claims will be handled during renewal.

Important: read before using this information

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