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Understanding and Resolving Common MCReF Error Codes



By Heather Keser
Senior Manager, Provider Reimbursement Health Care Consulting Services
Moss Adams (now Baker Tilly)



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Original Publish Date: August 6, 2025

While the Medicare Cost Report E-Filing system (MCReF) is an essential tool for health care providers submitting Medicare cost reports, users often encounter error codes that can delay submissions or lead to rejections. Understanding these error codes used by Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) helps streamline the process, reduce rejections, and improve the likelihood of timely acceptance.

Common MCReF Error Codes—Their Meanings and Resolutions

F104: Missing Primary Payor

What It Means

This error occurs when a record with an insurance status of 2 or 3 does not have a primary payor listed. Insurance status 2 indicates a secondary payer situation, while insurance status 3 refers to insured patients.

How to Address It

F106: Patient Bad Debt Write-Off Amounts

What It Means

The recorded patient bad debt write-off amount exceeds the calculated maximum, which is derived from a formula involving hospital charges, payments, and allowances.

How to Address It

F24: Incomplete Record

What It Means

A record is missing critical information such as the patient’s name, Medicare Beneficiary Identifier (MBI) or Health Insurance Claim Number (HICN), service dates, or the claimed bad debt amount.

How to Address It

F50: Missing Deductible/Coinsurance/Copay on Insured Claim

What It Means

For insured patients (insurance status 3), the deductible, coinsurance, or copay amount is missing.

How to Address It

F90-F94: Procedural Warnings Related to Headers or Column Labels

What It Means

These warnings indicate that the template being used has been modified, particularly in the header or column labels, which violates CMS's formatting requirements.

How to Address It

F95-F98: Report Does Not Reconcile

What It Means

The report contains discrepancies, such as mismatched totals or incorrect date or currency formats.

How to Address It

F101: Incomplete Record

What It Means

Similar to F24, this error indicates that critical information is missing from the record.

How to Address It

How to Avoid MCReF Errors

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For more information, contact your firm professional.

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