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MA22 Remark Code: Payment Under $1.00 Suppressed

MA22 means the payer calculated a payment of less than $1.00 and suppressed it rather than sending it. The claim was processed, but the tiny amount was not paid.

Quick facts

Code
MA22 (RARC MA22)
Status
Active In use since January 1, 1997.
Code set
Remittance Advice Remark Codes (RARC)
Group codes
  • CO (Contractual Obligation): The suppressed amount is written off as a provider adjustment. Do not transfer it to the patient.
  • OA (Other Adjustment): Some payers report the suppressed amount as another adjustment. It is still not collectible from the patient.
Official description
Payment of less than $1.00 suppressed.
X12 Remittance Advice Remark Codes, retrieved September 25, 2026
Last verified
against the official X12 list.

What MA22 means

Issuing a payment costs money, so payers such as Medicare may skip paying amounts below a dollar. MA22 tells you that is what happened: the claim was fully processed, the payer’s share came to less than $1.00, and no payment was sent.

This typically occurs when deductible or coinsurance absorbs almost the whole allowed amount, or when a small adjustment claim yields only a few cents.

Common causes

  • A low-value service where cost-sharing covered nearly all of the allowed amount.
  • A reprocessed claim where the difference from the original payment was tiny.
  • A partial-unit or low-fee service that produced a very small payment.

What to do

  1. Verify the calculation. Confirm the allowed amount and cost-sharing were applied correctly.
  2. Write off the suppressed amount as an adjustment, not as a patient balance.
  3. Collect PR amounts from the patient or secondary payer as usual.
  4. Skip resubmission. Resubmitting will not produce a payment and may cause duplicate denials.

How to prevent it

MA22 cannot really be prevented, but set up a posting rule so small suppressed amounts close cleanly instead of lingering as open balances. Reviewing adjustments across remittances with an ERA Analyzer keeps these from being mistaken for underpayments.

Codes that may appear with MA22

  • CO-45 (Charge exceeds fee schedule/maximum allowable or contracted/legislated fee arrangement.): The allowed-amount reduction that left only a very small payable amount.
  • PR-2 (Coinsurance Amount): Coinsurance that consumed most of the allowed amount, leaving under a dollar.
  • CO-94 (Processed in Excess of charges.): Processed in excess of charges, a different type of payment anomaly.
  • MA46 (Alert: The new information was considered but additional payment will not be issued.): New information was considered but no additional payment will be issued.
  • CO-A0 (Patient refund amount.): A patient refund amount.

MA22 FAQ

Can I appeal to get the small amount paid?

MA22 reflects a payer rule about minimum payments, so appealing for the amount itself is unlikely to be worthwhile. Check that the underlying calculation is correct.

Can I bill the patient for it?

No. The suppressed amount was the payer's share, not the patient's. Bill the patient only for amounts reported as PR.

Should MA22 count as a denial?

No. The claim was processed normally. Track it as a small-balance adjustment rather than a denial.