Legacy A/R cleanup after switching billing companies
Legacy A/R is the insurance receivable left behind when a practice changes billing companies, migrates systems, or acquires another practice. The claims are still owed, but nobody is assigned to them. MARR Partners takes the entire legacy queue, works it in the old system or from exports, and is paid only on what is recovered.
How receivables get stranded
Billing-company change
The outgoing vendor stops working claims once notice is given, and the incoming vendor is paid on new charges. Claims in flight on the transition date lose their owner.
EHR or PM migration
Open claims stay in the retired system. Staff lose access or forget how to use it, and the balances age silently until the old contract ends.
Acquisition
The acquiring group inherits receivables in an unfamiliar system with unfamiliar payer contracts, and its billing team is focused on integrating current charges.
Staff turnover
A departing billing manager takes the follow-up history with them. Claims with no notes are the first to be abandoned.
What is at stake and how fast it decays
Legacy A/R loses value on a schedule set by payer deadlines, not by the practice's calendar. Medicare allows one calendar year from the date of service to file a claim and 120 days from the initial determination to request a redetermination (CMS). Commercial timely-filing limits are frequently 90 to 180 days from the date of service, and appeal windows 60 to 180 days from the denial. A queue that goes untouched for two quarters during a transition can lose its youngest claims to filing limits and its oldest to appeal limits at the same time.
The first pass through a legacy queue therefore sorts by deadline, not by balance, and works everything within 30 days of a limit first.
| Payer type | Filing limit (typical) | Appeal window (typical) |
|---|---|---|
| Medicare fee-for-service | 1 calendar year from DOS (CMS) | 120 days for redetermination (CMS) |
| Medicare Advantage | Per contract; often 90 days–1 year | 60 days standard (plan rules) |
| Medicaid and managed Medicaid | Varies by state; often 90 days–1 year | Varies by state and plan |
| Commercial PPO/HMO | Per contract; often 90–180 days | Per contract; often 60–180 days |
| Workers' compensation | Per state fee schedule rules | Per state dispute process |
"Typical" ranges are what we see in payer contracts; confirm each against your own agreements. Medicare figures are from CMS.
How a legacy engagement runs
- You send the aging report from the old system under a BAA; we return a Recovery opportunity report in 5 business days.
- We work from read-only access to the old system, or from claim-level exports if the system is being shut off.
- Deadline-exposed claims are worked in the first week. Everything else is worked by recoverability.
- Payers remit to the practice as usual. Recovered dollars are reconciled to claims so your current team can post them.
- Unrecoverable claims are closed with a documented reason, so the old A/R can finally be written off with confidence.
What your current billing team does
Nothing different. They keep working current charges in the current system. We never touch claims under 90 days unless you ask us to, and we hand back reporting your team can use to fix upstream causes.
Billing companies that inherit a client's legacy queue can hand it to us under a white-label or revenue-share arrangement.
Sources
- CMS, Medicare timely filing requirements (one calendar year from the date of service)
- CMS, Original Medicare appeals: redetermination within 120 days, reconsideration within 180 days
- HHS, HIPAA for professionals (business associate requirements when a third party works claim data)
Figures attributed to a source are that source's; commonly used benchmarks are labeled as such. Verify deadlines against your own payer contracts.