Skip to main content

N655 Remark Code: Priced by Provider's Region

N655 means the payer calculated the payment using rates for the provider's geographic region, such as a locality or ZIP-based pricing area. If the payer placed you in the wrong region, the allowed amount can be off.

Quick facts

Code
N655 (RARC N655)
Status
Active In use since July 15, 2013.
Code set
Remittance Advice Remark Codes (RARC)
Group codes
  • CO (Contractual Obligation): The difference between your charge and the regional allowed amount is a contractual or fee schedule write-off.
  • PR (Patient Responsibility): Patient cost-sharing calculated on the regional allowed amount is reported separately under PR.
Official description
Payment based on provider's geographic region.
X12 Remittance Advice Remark Codes, retrieved September 25, 2026
Last verified
against the official X12 list.

What N655 means

Many fee schedules pay different amounts in different places to reflect local costs. Medicare uses payment localities, state workers’ compensation systems may use regions or ZIP codes, and commercial contracts sometimes vary by market. N655 tells you the payer priced the service based on where the provider is located.

That makes the remark useful as a check. If you know which region’s rates you should receive, you can compare them directly to the allowed amount.

When it signals a problem

  • The payer has an old address for your practice, perhaps from before a move or from a different location of a multi-site group.
  • The billing provider and the service location differ, and the payer priced on the one that doesn’t match your contract.
  • A new location isn’t enrolled, so claims default to the organization’s main address.
  • The region boundaries changed and the payer applied the wrong year’s mapping.

What to do

  1. Identify the region the payer used, from the remittance or by calling provider services.
  2. Check your records: the billing provider address in box 33, the service facility in box 32, and the locations on your enrollment.
  3. Fix enrollment data with the payer if your address or location list is out of date. See provider enrollment denials.
  4. Correct the claim with resubmission code 7 in box 22 if you reported the wrong service location.
  5. Request reprocessing of affected claims once the payer’s records are updated.

How to prevent it

Update payer enrollment records before opening, moving, or closing a location, and confirm the change is reflected before claims for the new site go out. Watching allowed amounts for sudden shifts after an address change catches misplaced regions early.

Codes that may appear with N655

  • CO-45 (Charge exceeds fee schedule/maximum allowable or contracted/legislated fee arrangement.): The charge exceeded the fee schedule amount for the provider's region.
  • N600 (Adjusted based on the applicable fee schedule for the region in which the service was rendered.): Pricing based on the region where the service was rendered, rather than where the provider is located.
  • N669 (Adjusted based on the Medicare fee schedule.): Pricing based on the Medicare fee schedule, which has its own geographic localities.
  • N608 (The fee schedule amount allowed is calculated at 110% of the Medicare Fee Schedule for this region, specialty and type of service.): A fee schedule set at a percentage of the Medicare amount for the region and provider type.

N655 FAQ

Which address determines my region?

It depends on the payer. Some use the billing provider's address, some the service facility location, and some the rendering provider's enrolled practice location. Check the payer's pricing rules.

Is N655 a denial?

No. It explains the pricing. Act on it only if the region or the rate appears to be wrong.

How do I get a region corrected?

Update your enrollment or credentialing record with the payer if the address it has is wrong, and correct the claim if the service location was reported incorrectly.