CO-57: retired; replaced by CARC 150 to 154.

What X12 says CARC 57 means

Payment denied/reduced because the payer deems the information submitted does not support this level of service, this many services, this length of service, this dosage, or this day's supply.

CARC 57 · Start 01/01/1995, stopped 06/30/2007 (retired).

X12 note: Split into codes 150, 151, 152, 153 and 154.

In plain terms: X12 retired this code on 06/30/2007 and split it into 150 to 154. It meant the information sent did not support the level, number, length, dosage or day's supply billed.

What it means on a remittance

The retired CARC 57 combined five different problems in one sentence. The five that replaced it are specific, so the first job is to find which one your remittance carries. All five are about what the record and claim show, not about whether the service is covered at all.

Typical causes

• The level billed (for example an evaluation and management level) is higher than the documentation the payer saw.
• More units or visits were billed than the information supports.
• A time-based code was billed for a length of service the record does not show.
• A drug dose or days' supply does not match what the prescription or record shows.

These are common billing patterns, not a diagnosis of your claim. The remittance and the payer's policy decide.

What to check

1. Match your remittance to one of 150 to 154 and read the exact X12 wording above.
2. Compare the units, level, time, dose or days' supply on the claim with the signed record.
3. Check that the records were sent when the payer asked for them, and that the right pages went with the claim.
4. Find the payer's documentation rules for that code.

Correct, resubmit or appeal

If the claim overstated the service, correct it and resubmit. If the record supports what was billed, request review and attach the pages that show it. For Medicare, a denial after missing documentation is processed as a reopening when you then request a redetermination (42 CFR 405.980(a)(2)), and a redetermination request is due 120 days from receipt of the notice (42 CFR 405.942). Other payers set their own windows.

Medicare dates that apply

Medicare claims must be filed no later than the close of the period ending 1 calendar year after the date of service (42 CFR 424.44(a)(1)), with exceptions in 424.44(b). A redetermination request must be filed within 120 calendar days from the date a party receives the notice, receipt is presumed 5 days after the notice date (42 CFR 405.942(a)), and a late request can be considered for good cause (405.942(b)). Clerical errors, including inaccurate data entry, are handled by the contractor as reopenings instead of redeterminations (42 CFR 405.980(a)(3)). The tool above runs the date math.

Related codes

X12 does not publish a table that pairs each CARC with remark codes. The payer picks the remark code and prints it beside the CARC on the same remittance line, so read it on your own remittance and look it up in the X12 list.

Other codes: CARC 50 (medical necessity denials), CARC 97 (bundled services). The full lookup reads any code on this page.

Worked example (hypothetical)

A time-based service is billed at 60 minutes and denies with the length-of-service wording. The note shows start and stop times that add up to 38 minutes. The biller corrects the code to the level the record supports and resubmits instead of appealing.

Sources

• X12: Claim Adjustment Reason Codes — code text, usage notes and dates (list dated 10/30/2026, retrieved 2026-11-02)
• X12: Remittance Advice Remark Codes — remark code text (retrieved 2026-11-02)
• 42 CFR 424.44, 42 CFR 405.942 and 42 CFR 405.980 — eCFR, current through 2026-10-29 (retrieved 2026-11-02)

Code descriptions are X12 copyrighted material, quoted here only for the codes on this page and linked to the owner. For the full lists, use X12. Every rule above was read from these pages on November 2, 2026. Payers revise code lists, contracts and policies, so confirm anything that affects a claim or a deadline with the payer.