Optum Timely Filing Limit 2026: 90 Days for Most Claims, 180 for VA CCN

The Optum timely filing limit is 90 days for Optum Behavioral Health and Optum Care Network claims, counted from the date of service for behavioral health. VA Community Care Network claims Optum administers in Regions 1 to 3 get 180 days under federal law. Optum's physical health network sets each deadline in the patient's Plan Summary.

Your participation agreement or state law can set a different period, and when either one does, that period controls. TFL in medical billing means timely filing limit: the window between the date of service and the day the payer receives the claim. For Optum TFL, the date that counts is the day Optum receives it.

A claim that sits rejected at your clearinghouse hasn't reached Optum, and the clock keeps running while it waits. That's why our claims submission services track Optum's acceptance of each claim instead of stopping at transmission.

At MedSole RCM, we matched each Optum entity's filing, correction, and appeal deadlines to the official Optum, VA, and California documents on September 27, 2026. You'll find the Optum timely filing deadline for each entity, the payer IDs, both behavioral health appeal clocks, and the evidence that overturns a CO-29.

In this guide

• Optum Timely Filing Limits at a Glance
• Which Optum Entity Is on the Claim?
• Optum Behavioral Health Timely Filing Limit: 90 Days From the Date of Service
• Optum Care Network Timely Filing Limit: 90 Days for Claims, 60 for Disputes
• OptumHealth Timely Filing Limit for Physical Health Claims
• VA CCN Optum Timely Filing Limit: 180 Days
• Optum Timely Filing Limit in California
• Why Corrected and Resubmitted Optum Claims Deny as Untimely
• How to Prove Timely Filing After a CO-29 Denial
• Optum Appeal Timely Filing Limit: Where Each Dispute Goes
• How to Prevent Optum Timely Filing Denials
• How MedSole RCM Protects Optum Claims From Filing Deadlines
• Optum Timely Filing Limit FAQs
• Optum Timely Filing Limit 2022 to 2026: What Changed, and Sources

Optum Timely Filing Limits at a Glance

The Optum timely filing limit changes with the Optum entity that adjudicates the claim. This table breaks out Optum timely filing for claims by entity. Each row shows the clock start, the correction rule, the dispute window, and the payer ID, as that entity publishes them in its own manual.

Sources: Optum National Network Manual (effective September 1, 2026), Provider Express claim tips, 2024 Optum claims provider manual, OptumHealth Care Solutions operations manual (revised January 2022), 38 U.S.C. 1703D, VA Community Care, and the Optum San Diego FFS Operations Handbook (March 2026). Verified September 27, 2026.

Using this table starts with a question your front desk should answer before the visit: which Optum business is paying for this patient's care?

Which Optum Entity Is on the Claim?

Optum is a group of UnitedHealth Group businesses, and each one publishes its own claim rules. Before you calendar an Optum timely filing limit, confirm which entity adjudicates the claim. The four covered here are Optum Behavioral Health, Optum Care Network, OptumHealth Care Solutions for physical health, and Optum as the VA Community Care Network administrator.

Three Checks That Identify the Right Optum Entity

Your team can sort almost any Optum claim with three checks, run in this order at intake. Each one takes a minute once the front desk knows where to look.

1. The member ID card. A behavioral health phone line or a Provider Express reference points to Optum Behavioral Health. An Optum Care logo points to Optum Care Network, and a VA referral points to VA CCN.
2. The payer ID your clearinghouse uses. Optum's network manual routes behavioral health EDI claims to 87726, Optum Care Network uses LIFE1, and VA CCN uses VACCN. The OptumHealth physical health manual also lists 87726 for some plans, so the payer ID can't separate behavioral health from medical on its own.
3. The portal behind the claim. Provider Express handles behavioral health, and the Optum Pro Portal handles Optum Care Network. VA CCN claims run through Optum's VA community care site.

Each entity publishes its own Optum payer guidelines, so timely filing for Optum claims starts with this check. Skip it, and your team can end up calendaring the Optum TFL for claims from the wrong manual.

Is Optum the Same as UnitedHealthcare or UMR?

Optum and UnitedHealthcare are sister companies under UnitedHealth Group, but their claim rules come from different documents. On many UnitedHealthcare plans, Optum Behavioral Health manages the behavioral health benefit, so a UHC card can still produce a behavioral health claim that follows Optum's 90-day rule.

Optum also credentials providers on six separate Optum enrollment tracks, which is how a clinician ends up in network with one Optum business and out of network with another. UnitedHealthcare medical claims follow your participation agreement and UHC's own guidance, and our UHC timely filing guide covers the UHC timely filing limit by plan type.

UMR is UnitedHealthcare's third-party administrator for self-funded employer plans. Its deadlines come from the employer's plan document and your contract, so treat UMR as its own payer. For the UMR timely filing limit on those plans, see our breakdown of UMR filing deadlines.

Your front desk can lock in the wrong deadline before a claim even exists if nobody checks which Optum entity is on the card. MedSole RCM's benefit verification services confirm coverage and the payer behind the card 24 to 48 hours before each visit, starting at $4 per check.

Optum Behavioral Health Timely Filing Limit: 90 Days From the Date of Service

Optum Behavioral Health (United Behavioral Health) must receive all information needed to process a claim no more than 90 calendar days from the date of service. After that, Optum may reject the claim, and a network provider can't bill the member for a claim that misses the window. Both rules sit in Optum's current network manual.

The deadline runs to receipt. Optum counts the day it holds complete claim information, and the date your billing system created the claim doesn't matter. The manual lets state or federal law, or the member's benefit plan, set a different period. That language sits in the Timely Filing section of the Optum National Network Manual, published July 1, 2026.

Send behavioral health EDI claims to payer ID 87726. Optum runs more than one claims system, and the manual says this ID gets the claim to the right one. On the portal, Provider Express Claim Entry won't submit a claim with a required field left blank, which stops a common rejection before it costs you days.

Build the Optum behavioral health timely filing limit into your charge-entry calendar, since an aging report shows the problem after the window has closed. Authorizations, time-based psychotherapy codes, and carve-out checks all affect when a claim can go out, and our behavioral health billing guide covers each one.

Corrected Claims: 90 Days From Receipt of the Initial Claim

The Optum timely filing limit for corrected claims on Optum Behavioral Health claims is 90 days from Optum's receipt of the initial claim, per the Provider Express claim tips. Neither the remittance date nor the EOB date restarts that clock.

Example: Date of service March 2, 2026. The original claim must reach Optum by May 31. Optum receives it on March 20, so any correction is due by June 18, even if the remit doesn't post until late May.

Waiting for the remit before fixing a known error burns the correction window. If your biller spots a wrong CPT code or a missing modifier on day 10, send the correction on day 10 and keep a copy of the acceptance report.

Optum Behavioral Health Appeal Timely Filing Limit: Two Separate Clocks

Optum Behavioral Health runs two appeal paths with different deadlines. Filing under the wrong one can cost you an appeal you should have won, so match the dispute to its path before you send anything.

Source: Optum National Network Manual, published July 1, 2026, effective September 1, 2026. Verified September 27, 2026.

Use the two-step reconsideration for a timely filing denial. It doesn't apply to Medicaid plans, and the Optum reconsideration request form adds that the process covers Commercial and Medicare Advantage claims and may not apply in all states. The 180-day window belongs to authorization disputes, so keep late-claim arguments out of it.

Optum Care Network Timely Filing Limit: 90 Days for Claims, 60 for Disputes

Optum Care Network allows 90 days to file a claim and 60 days to request a reconsideration or payment dispute, or the periods in your provider contract. Both figures come from the 2024 Optum claims provider manual, which doesn't say when either clock starts, so plan around the earliest possible trigger.

Calendar the 90 days from the date of service and the 60 days from the remittance date. The OptumCare timely filing limit matches the 90-day Optum timely filing limit for behavioral health. Corrections and disputes still follow separate rules at each entity, so keep a row for each.

The 2024 Optum claims provider manual puts the proof burden on you. If you dispute a claim denied for timely filing, you must show you filed within your limit. The manual also lists three kinds of claims that can deny as untimely:

• Claims resubmitted after a denial for more information or incorrect processing
• Corrected claims resubmitted for reprocessing
• Claims with outdated member insurance, where Optum was the primary or secondary payer

Payer ID LIFE1 and Optum Corrected Claim Mailing Address

Optum Care Network takes electronic claims under payer ID LIFE1 through any clearinghouse, in HIPAA 837I or 837P format, and Optum charges nothing for electronic submission. Connecticut dates of service in 2022 and earlier go to payer ID E2387 instead.

Paper claims and corrected paper claims go to the Optum P.O. Box that matches the member's state. Disputes use a separate channel, by email to claimdispute@optum.com.

Source: 2024 Optum claims provider manual. The manual prints ZIP 84130-0539 for all three boxes; we list the five-digit ZIP for the two boxes where that +4 code doesn't match the box number. Verified September 27, 2026.

This is the 2024 edition, so compare each address with the one printed on your current remit before a paper claim goes in the mail.

Corrected and Voided Claims: Frequency Codes 7 and 8

On an Optum Care Network professional claim (Form 1500), enter resubmission code 7 in Box 22 with the original Optum reference or claim number. Code 8 in Box 22 voids a claim. Facility claims on the UB-04 (Form 1450) carry the 7 in the type of bill in Box 4.

Any facility claim with bill type XX7 also needs a claim change reason condition code, D0 to D9 or E0. Include the codes for every service you want considered for payment, including lines that didn't change.

Denial Codes TF1 and OIT on Optum Care Network Remits

Optum Care Network prints its own denial codes on the remit, and two of them decide what you do with a claim that looks late.

Source: 2024 Optum claims provider manual, Chapter 5, Common denial errors. Verified September 27, 2026.

An OIT tells you Optum processed the original claim. That gives you a received date to use as proof if the corrected claim later draws a TF1.

Non-Contracted Medicare Advantage Providers: 60-Day Appeals, 120-Day Payment Disputes

Non-contracted Medicare Advantage providers get separate rights in Optum Care Network's health plan sections. The UnitedHealthcare, Humana, Elevance, Premera, and Blue Cross Blue Shield sections of the 2024 manual allow 60 calendar days from the remittance notification date to appeal a payment denial.

Attach a signed waiver of liability, the original claim, and the remittance notice to that appeal. Humana, Elevance, Premera, Presbyterian, and Blue Cross Blue Shield also allow 120 calendar days from the remittance notification date for a payment dispute.

Contracted providers don't inherit Original Medicare's 12-month rule, explained in our Medicare timely filing rules guide. For a contracted provider, the Optum contract sets the deadline, so pull the claims section of your agreement before you lean on any Medicare number.

If TF1 and OIT codes keep showing up on your Optum Care Network remits, each one needs a different fix, and the dispute window is 60 days. MedSole RCM's denial management services work both, at 4.49% of what gets recovered, or included in full-service billing at 2.99% of collections.

OptumHealth Timely Filing Limit for Physical Health Claims

OptumHealth Care Solutions, Optum's physical health network, doesn't publish one filing limit. The OptumHealth timely filing limit for each patient comes from that health plan's Plan Summary. Its provider operations manual tells providers to check the Plan Summary, including the payer ID, before submitting.

The network covers physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech-language pathology, and chiropractic care, and each health plan it serves can set a different filing period. Pull the Plan Summary at intake and note the deadline on the patient account, so your biller isn't guessing at charge entry.

For secondary claims, the OptumHealth Care Solutions operations manual (revised January 2022) recommends filing within 60 days of the primary payer's determination of benefits, with a copy of that determination. Accurate ERA and EOB posting matters here, since that recommended window starts on the primary payer's date.

If OptumHealth denies a claim as late, send a written administrative reconsideration within 30 calendar days of the remittance advice date, marked Attention: Service Coordinator. Patients can't be billed for services denied because the provider missed an administrative requirement such as a filing deadline.

Late clinical paperwork can sink an on-time claim too. The manual warns that claims tied to a late clinical submission may not be paid, and the patient can't be billed for them. Billing the wrong payer first causes a different denial, covered in our guide to CO-22 COB denials.

VA CCN Optum Timely Filing Limit: 180 Days

Providers must submit VA Community Care Network claims no later than 180 days after the date they furnished the care, under federal law. Optum is the third-party administrator for CCN Regions 1 to 3, so claims for care in those regions go to Optum under payer ID VACCN, not to VA.

The Optum VA timely filing limit matches VA's own, since both come from the same statute. Under 38 U.S.C. 1703D, the VA timely filing limit for community care is 180 days, set by the prompt payment standard in the VA MISSION Act of 2018. That veterans timely filing limit doesn't change by specialty or type of care.

For paper claims, VA community care claims guidance lists VA CCN Claims, Medical, P.O. Box 202117, Florence SC 29502, and secure fax 833-376-3047 for Optum's regions. VA requires advance authorization for all non-urgent, non-emergent care, so put the VA referral or authorization number on every claim for that care.

As of September 27, 2026, the VA Community Care Network page lists Optum as the administrator for Regions 1 to 3 and TriWest for Regions 4 and 5. Use this table to confirm your region and the Optum line to call.

Sources: VA Community Care Network page; VA provider claims page. Optum's provider lines run Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET. Verified September 27, 2026.

VA CCN isn't TRICARE. TRICARE covers service members, retirees, and their families under a one-year filing rule and different contractors, and our guide to TRICARE filing deadlines covers it.

VA Timely Filing for Secondary Claims and Reconsiderations

VA CCN secondary claims and reconsiderations run on their own clocks, set in Optum's VA CCN provider manual. Neither VA's public claims pages nor any current Optum page we could open states those windows, so check the manual in Optum's VA community care portal before filing either one.

What the 2026 CCN Next Generation Contract Means for Your Claims

VA issued the CCN Next Generation request for proposals on December 15, 2025, according to VA's February 2026 Senate testimony. The testimony describes a 10-year, multiple-award IDIQ contract and calls it a dramatic modernization of the CCN contracts VA awarded in 2018.

As of September 27, 2026, we found no award announcement from VA, and VA still lists Optum for Regions 1 to 3. Until VA names a transition date, file with the administrator on the referral and keep submission and acceptance records for every VA claim.

During an administrator change, the claims that age out are the ones nobody hears back on. MedSole RCM's claim acceptance tracking flags any claim with no payer activity past a set window and assigns it to one team member. That person escalates to direct payer contact before day 180.

Optum Timely Filing Limit in California

California regulation 28 CCR 1300.71 bars health plans licensed by the Department of Managed Health Care, and their capitated providers, from setting short claim deadlines. The floor is 90 days after the date of service for contracted providers and 180 days for non-contracted providers. It reaches any Optum plan or capitated arrangement the department regulates.

For secondary claims, California regulation 28 CCR 1300.71 requires at least 90 days from the date of the primary payer's payment, contest, denial, or notice. If a plan denies a late claim, it must accept and adjudicate the claim when the provider files a provider dispute and shows good cause for the delay.

Two definitions in the regulation change deadline math. For inpatient services, the date of service is the discharge date. A misdirected claim counts as received on the working day it first reaches the party responsible for adjudicating it. Until then, a claim sent to the wrong payer isn't received.

The regulation doesn't reach self-funded ERISA employer plans, and insurer-issued policies fall under California Insurance Code section 10133.66 instead. U.S. Behavioral Health Plan, California, has its own California Network Manual, which Optum's national manual points to, so check its claims chapter for California commercial behavioral health claims.

Medical billing time limits by state vary, so check your state's prompt-pay rules before you treat a payer's published number as the floor.

Medi-Cal Behavioral Health Claims Through Optum San Diego

Optum Public Sector San Diego requires Medi-Cal fee-for-service mental health claims within 90 days of the date of service. That rule comes from the March 2026 edition of the Optum San Diego provider handbook, which sets two more clocks:

• Other health coverage: Optum must receive the Medi-Cal claim within 90 days of your receipt of the primary plan's EOB, and no later than 6 months from the date of service.
• Returned or questioned claims: resubmit within 90 days of the Optum EOB date or Optum's outreach.

Knowing the window covers half the job. The other half is keeping a claim you filed on time from denying as late, and that starts with how Optum counts corrections and resubmissions.

Why Corrected and Resubmitted Optum Claims Deny as Untimely

The Optum timely filing limit for corrected claims doesn't reset the original clock. Optum Care Network lists corrected and resubmitted claims among those that can deny as untimely, and Optum Behavioral Health wants corrections within 90 days of receiving the initial claim.

A claim rejected at the clearinghouse or at Optum's front-end edits never entered adjudication, and the filing clock kept running the whole time. If your team resubmits that claim on day 95, Optum sees a first filing on day 95.

Optum Care Network's manual names three versions of this trap. They're a claim resubmitted after a denial for more information, a corrected claim sent for reprocessing, and a claim with outdated member insurance on file. Each one still answers to the original filing limit.

Example: Date of service January 10, 2026. The 90-day Optum Care Network window closes April 10. Your team sends the claim February 1, and it rejects for a subscriber ID error that nobody opens. The corrected claim goes out April 20 and comes back with TF1.

The corrected claim TFL for Optum runs on the original window. UHC corrected claim timely filing follows UnitedHealthcare's own rules, so keep the two calendars apart even when the same card carries both names.

The fix is catching rejections early. Confirm acceptance on the original claim within a few days of sending it, while a rejection still leaves room inside the window to correct and resubmit.

How to Prove Timely Filing After a CO-29 Denial

To overturn a CO-29 on an Optum claim, show that Optum received and accepted that specific claim inside the Optum timely filing limit. Optum's network manual asks for confirmation that Optum received and accepted the claim. The 2024 Optum Care Network manual requires proof you filed within your limit.

CARC 29 means "The time limit for filing has expired," per the X12 claim adjustment reason codes list. Group code CO makes it a contractual obligation, so a network provider can't move the balance to the patient.

Payer-side evidence beats anything from your own system. Rank what you have against this list before you write a word of the appeal.

Sources: Optum reconsideration request form; Optum National Network Manual; CMS MLN3171902 (March 2026). Strength ratings reflect MedSole RCM's appeal experience. Verified September 27, 2026.

Optum's reconsideration form is specific. It wants an EDI acceptance report for an electronic claim, and a submission report won't do. A paper claim needs a screenshot from your software showing the date you submitted it.

Work every Optum CO-29 in the same five steps, so nobody sends an appeal before the deadline math and the evidence are settled:

1. Match the remit to the exact claim and date of service.
2. Recalculate the deadline with the right Optum entity and start event.
3. Pull payer-side evidence, strongest first.
4. File through that entity's dispute route.
5. Calendar the dispute deadline before you send anything.

Why a 999 Is Not Proof and a 277CA Is

A 999 acknowledgment and a 277CA answer different questions about every Optum claim. The CMS claim status fact sheet explains that front-end edits check whether a file is readable and return a 999. A 277CA reports acceptance or rejection claim by claim, and accepted claims receive a tracking number.

Save the 277CA with the claim the day it arrives, since a clearinghouse report you can't pull a year later won't help an appeal. If your vendor doesn't keep claim-level acknowledgments, our clearinghouse comparison can help you weigh a switch.

A CO-29 with no saved 277CA can lose on evidence even when the dates were fine. MedSole RCM's timely filing denial recovery rebuilds the acceptance trail, matches the argument to the right Optum route, and tracks the dispute to a final decision.

Optum Appeal Timely Filing Limit: Where Each Dispute Goes

The Optum appeal timely filing limit depends on the entity. Optum Behavioral Health allows 12 months for its two-step reconsideration and appeal, and Optum Care Network allows 60 days for disputes. OptumHealth wants administrative reconsiderations within 30 calendar days of the remittance advice date, and each entity uses its own address.

Sources: Optum National Network Manual and reconsideration request form; 2024 Optum claims provider manual; OptumHealth Care Solutions operations manual; Optum San Diego FFS Operations Handbook (March 2026). Verified September 27, 2026.

If an Optum Care Network dispute stalls, the 2024 manual lets you escalate to Optum Market Operations Research and Escalation with the original dispute tracking number. OptumHealth sends a written answer to a reconsideration within 30 days, or within 45 business days in California.

An appeal sent to the wrong Optum entity never reaches the right one, and the dispute clock keeps running while it sits in the wrong queue. Check the entity on the remit before you pick an address from this table.

How to Prevent Optum Timely Filing Denials

Preventing a missed Optum timely filing limit takes six controls. Identify the entity at intake, keep a deadline matrix, submit daily, confirm claim-level acceptance, escalate aging claims at set points, and capture primary EOB dates. Acceptance tracking matters more than speed, because a fast claim that rejects still misses the window.

Good claims management in healthcare comes down to ownership. Each queue in these steps needs one named person, or it turns into the queue nobody works.

1. Identify the entity at intake. Run the card, payer ID, and portal checks on every Optum patient before the first visit. Record the entity in your practice management system so billers see it at charge entry.
2. Keep a payer deadline matrix. Give it columns for entity, filing limit, correction rule, dispute window, clock start, source, and date last verified. One row for Optum timely filing for claims isn't enough, and the same matrix should cover every payer you bill, from Aetna timely filing to Cigna deadlines.
3. Submit daily. Weekly batching can burn up to six days of a 90-day window before a claim leaves the building. Daily clean claim submission keeps that time on your side.
4. Confirm acceptance every business day. Work from the 277CA or portal status instead of the transmission report. Fix each rejection the day it appears.
5. Escalate at set points in the window. The thresholds in the table below are MedSole RCM workflow triggers, not Optum rules. Each one moves the claim to a more senior person.
6. Capture the primary EOB date the day it posts. OptumHealth's recommended 60-day secondary window and California's 90-day secondary floor both start from the primary payer's action.

MedSole RCM workflow thresholds. Optum and VA don't publish these; they're internal escalation points.

One biller covering rejections, posting, and AR leaves a quiet queue, and that's where Optum claims age out. MedSole RCM's aging claim follow-up works the claims with real recovery odds first, at 4.49% of what gets recovered, or included in full-service billing at 2.99% of collections.

How MedSole RCM Protects Optum Claims From Filing Deadlines

MedSole RCM is a full-service revenue cycle management company that bills at 2.99% of collections and credentials providers for $99 per payer enrollment. Every Optum timely filing limit in this guide maps to a step our team owns, from entity verification at intake to acceptance tracking and appeals.

Our team works aging claims daily, prioritized by dollar value and timely filing deadline. We publish our pricing, so you can set it next to what you pay now and see the gap in a minute.

Source: MedSole RCM service pages and pricing guides. Verified September 27, 2026.

For practices comparing billing companies on price, MedSole RCM's 2.99% full-service rate sits below the 4% to 7% most billing companies charge. Its $99 per payer credentialing sits below the $200 to $400 per payer range common in the market.

• A 99% clean claim rate on submitted claims
• 4,000+ providers served across 75+ specialties in all 50 states
• Credentialing applications filed within 48 hours of receiving complete documents
• Weekly calls to every payer on your credentialing file
• Enrollment timelines of 30 to 90 days, depending on the payer

Credentialing touches filing deadlines at one point: the effective date. A provider who sees Optum patients before that date produces claims that can deny, and the filing window keeps running while enrollment finishes. Our provider credentialing services start at $99 per payer and cover each Optum track your practice needs.

Aging Optum claims are the place to start. Send us your aging report and rejection history for a no-cost review. MedSole RCM runs medical billing at 2.99% and full revenue cycle management under one team, from the first claim to the last appeal.

Optum Timely Filing Limit FAQs

What is the Optum timely filing limit?

Optum's filing limit is 90 days for Optum Behavioral Health and Optum Care Network claims, counted from the date of service for behavioral health. VA Community Care Network claims that Optum administers in Regions 1 to 3 get 180 days after the care date.

OptumHealth physical health claims follow the deadline in each plan's Plan Summary. California adds a floor on top: a plan licensed by the Department of Managed Health Care can't set a contracted-provider deadline shorter than 90 days.

What is the Optum behavioral health timely filing limit?

The Optum behavioral health timely filing limit is 90 calendar days from the date of service, and Optum must receive complete claim information inside that window. Corrections and additions are due within 90 days of Optum's receipt of the initial claim, per the Optum National Network Manual effective September 1, 2026.

A network provider can't bill the member for a claim that misses these windows. Send EDI claims to payer ID 87726 so they reach Optum's behavioral health claims system.

What is the OptumCare timely filing limit for reconsiderations?

The OptumCare timely filing limit for reconsiderations and payment disputes is 60 days, or the period in your provider contract, per the 2024 Optum claims provider manual. That dispute window sits apart from Optum Care Network's 90-day limit for filing the original claim.

Send disputes to claimdispute@optum.com or to Optum Provider Dispute Resolution, P.O. Box 30539, Salt Lake City, UT 84130-0539. For a timely filing denial, include proof that Optum received the claim inside your limit.

What is the VA timely filing limit for community care claims?

The VA timely filing limit for community care is 180 days after the date the provider furnished the care, set by federal law in 38 U.S.C. 1703D. Optum administers Community Care Network Regions 1 to 3 and takes electronic claims under payer ID VACCN.

Paper claims for Optum's regions go to VA CCN Claims, Medical, P.O. Box 202117, Florence SC 29502. TriWest handles Regions 4 and 5, and VA wants the referral or authorization number on every claim for non-emergent care.

Does a corrected claim restart the Optum TFL?

No. A corrected or resubmitted Optum claim runs on the original filing window, and Optum Care Network lists corrected and resubmitted claims among those that can deny as untimely. Optum Behavioral Health wants corrections within 90 days of receiving the initial claim.

A claim rejected at the clearinghouse never reached Optum, so the clock kept running the whole time it sat there. Check claim-level acceptance within a few days of every submission.

What is the UHC Optum provider phone number?

The right UHC Optum provider phone number depends on the Optum entity, so start with the number on the member ID card or the remit. For VA Community Care Network claims, call Optum at 888-901-7407 for Region 1, 844-839-6108 for Region 2, or 888-901-6613 for Region 3.

VA lists those lines on its VA provider claims page, with hours of Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET. Optum Care Network's 2024 manual lists numbers by state, such as 1-877-370-2845 for Arizona and Utah and 1-866-565-3468 for New York.

Which medical billing company is most affordable for Optum claims?

MedSole RCM bills at 2.99% of collections for full-service medical billing, below the 4% to 7% most billing companies charge, with no setup fees and no long-term contracts. The rate covers claim submission, acceptance tracking, denial management, and AR follow-up for Optum and every other payer.

Practices that keep billing in-house can use standalone denial management or AR follow-up at 4.49% of what gets recovered. MedSole RCM reports a 99% clean claim rate across more than 4,000 providers in 75+ specialties.

How much does Optum credentialing cost?

Optum charges no application fee for credentialing, while outsourced credentialing services charge $200 to $400 per payer across much of the market. MedSole RCM charges $99 per payer enrollment, files each application within 48 hours of receiving complete documents, and calls every payer on the file weekly.

Claims for services before your Optum effective date can deny, and the filing window keeps running while enrollment finishes. Start enrollment before you schedule Optum patients, since enrollment takes 30 to 90 days depending on the payer.

MedSole RCM is a full-service revenue cycle management company that bills at 2.99% of collections and credentials providers for $99 per payer enrollment. Send us your Optum aging report for a free billing audit, and we'll show you which claims are still inside the window.

Optum Timely Filing Limit 2022 to 2026: What Changed, and Sources

The Optum timely filing limit rules in this guide rest on documents dated from January 2022 to July 2026. This timeline dates each source, so you can see which rules are newest and which ones to recheck first when a new edition comes out.

• January 2022: OptumHealth Care Solutions revises its provider operations manual, which sends providers to each Plan Summary for filing limits.
• 2024: The Optum claims provider manual sets 90 days for Optum Care Network claims and 60 days for disputes, with payer ID LIFE1 and E2387 for Connecticut dates of service in 2022 and earlier.
• August 15, 2024, to April 1, 2026: Optum releases National Network Manual editions dated August 15, 2024; March 1, 2025; October 1, 2025; and April 1, 2026.
• December 15, 2025: VA issues the CCN Next Generation request for proposals.
• February 11, 2026: VA testifies to the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee on CCN Next Generation.
• March 2026: Optum San Diego updates its FFS Operations Handbook, and CMS updates its claim status fact sheet.
• July 1, 2026: Optum publishes the National Network Manual effective September 1, 2026.

MedSole RCM checked every rule in this guide against the sources below on September 27, 2026, and we'll update this page when Optum or VA publishes a new edition.

Optum documents

1. Provider Express, claim tips for Optum Behavioral Health
2. Optum National Network Manual, effective September 1, 2026
3. Optum Behavioral Health claim reconsideration request form
4. Optum 2024 claims provider manual (Optum Care Network)
5. OptumHealth Care Solutions provider operations manual, revised January 2022
6. Optum San Diego FFS Operations Handbook, March 2026

VA and federal sources

1. 38 U.S.C. 1703D, prompt payment standard
2. VA Community Care, types of veteran care and claims guidance
3. VA Community Care Network page
4. VA statement to the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee, February 11, 2026
5. VA Community Care, provider claims

State rules and code standards

1. California Code of Regulations, Title 28, section 1300.71
2. X12 claim adjustment reason codes
3. CMS MLN3171902, Checking Medicare Claim Status, March 2026