Important Credit Balance (CMS-838) Report Information

Published 01/12/2018

Submitting Credit Balance Reports via Palmetto GBA eServices:

  • Are you tired of getting busy signals or not sure if your fax was received?
  • Are you interested in receiving confirmation (Document Control Number) from Palmetto GBA to confirm that your Credit Balance report and payment has been received?

Are you interested in avoiding Penalty Withholdings due to lost mail or faxes not received?
By using eService to submit your Credit Balance forms and supporting documentation you will avoid busy signals or lost mail. It is also cost efficient and environmentally friendly with no envelope, paper, or postage required. It is a one stop shop for submitting and tracking your Credit Balance forms, documentation and payments.

Palmetto GBA eServices now has the ability to upload Excel spreadsheets! We highly recommend using Palmetto GBA eServices and the new spreadsheet option for uploading the claim details associated with the credit balance report. A spreadsheet will help to avoid issues with reading small print on a faxed or printed copy of the document.

Credit Balance report rejections issues:
Acceptable signatures, name and title should be of the Officer or Administrator. Any unacceptable signatures, name and title will be rejected and a letter will be sent to the facility as notification of the rejection.

We will only accept the current CMS approved 838 from, which is located on the CMS.gov website as well as the Palmetto GBA website under Financial Forms. Any non-current forms will be rejected and a letter will be sent to notify the facility as notification of the rejection.

Other housekeeping items:
Please choose the best submission process for your facility and refrain from double submitting, unless otherwise requested by the Credit Balance staff. An example would be submitting your report by Fax and mail. You will receive a letter if we have not received your report on time. Double submission of your report increases the volume of reports that have to be processed and causes delays in processing the reports each quarter.


Was this article helpful?