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N552 Remark Code: Withhold or Bonus Reversed

N552 means payment was adjusted to reverse a previous withhold or bonus amount. An amount the payer earlier held back from, or added to, your payment under a contract or incentive arrangement is now being undone on this claim.

Quick facts

Code
N552 (RARC N552)
Status
Active In use since March 6, 2012.
Code set
Remittance Advice Remark Codes (RARC)
Group codes
  • CO (Contractual Obligation): The reversal is a contractual or program adjustment between payer and provider. Patient responsibility is not affected.
Official description
Payment adjusted to reverse a previous withhold/bonus amount.
X12 Remittance Advice Remark Codes, retrieved September 25, 2026
Last verified
against the official X12 list.

What N552 means

Many payer contracts include financial arrangements beyond the fee schedule. A withhold holds back a percentage of payment until year-end or until performance targets are measured. A bonus adds money for meeting targets. When the payer later settles or corrects those arrangements, it may reverse the earlier amount claim by claim, and N552 marks those reversals.

The effect can go in either direction, so the adjustment amount matters more than the remark itself.

Common reasons for reversals

  • Year-end settlement of a withhold pool, returning held-back money.
  • Recalculation of a performance bonus after late claims or data corrections.
  • A payer error in applying a withhold or bonus to the wrong provider or period.
  • Contract termination or amendment changing how earlier amounts are treated.

What to do

  1. Identify the original adjustment being reversed and the claim or period it applied to.
  2. Check the direction and amount against your contract terms and any settlement letter.
  3. Post the reversal against the original withhold or bonus category so reports stay accurate.
  4. Question discrepancies with the payer’s provider relations or contracting team, asking for the underlying calculation.
  5. Track totals by contract year so you can reconcile the arrangement as a whole.

Keeping it clean

Create dedicated adjustment categories for withholds, bonuses, and their reversals. When these amounts are lumped in with contractual write-offs, underpayment analysis becomes unreliable; the CARC and RARC analysis guide explains how to categorize adjustment codes.

Codes that may appear with N552

  • CO-104 (Managed care withholding.): Managed care withholding, the type of amount that may be reversed.
  • CO-245 (Provider performance program withhold.): Provider performance program withhold.
  • CO-161 (Provider performance bonus): Provider performance bonus, which may be reversed if the bonus is recalculated.
  • CO-144 (Incentive adjustment, e.g. preferred product/service.): Incentive adjustment, another amount that can be reversed.
  • N546 (Payment represents a previous reduction based on the Electronic Prescribing (eRx)): Payment representing a previous eRx Incentive Program reduction.
  • N199 (Additional payment/recoupment approved based on payer-initiated review/audit.): Additional payment or recoupment approved based on a payer-initiated review or audit.

N552 FAQ

Will N552 increase or decrease my payment?

Either. Reversing a withhold returns money to you, while reversing a bonus takes money back. Check the sign of the adjustment amount.

Why would a payer reverse a bonus?

Common reasons include recalculated performance results, retroactive claim changes that affect the measurement, or errors in the original bonus. Ask the payer for the calculation.

How should I post it?

Link it to the original withhold or bonus adjustment and reverse that category, rather than recording it as new payment or a new write-off.