Colorado Timely Filing for Therapists: Essential Guide

Colorado timely filing for therapists means getting each claim to the payer before its filing deadline, which is counted from the Date of Service. The deadline is not one number. Health First Colorado (Colorado Medicaid), commercial plans and Medicare each set their own limit, so check the payer before you assume. This guide covers Colorado only and keeps each payer type in its own section.

What Colorado timely filing for therapists means

Timely Filing is the deadline for a payer to receive your claim after the date of service. A claim that arrives late can be denied even if the care was covered and documented. For solo and group practices, the practical question is which clock applies to which payer.

Colorado timely filing for therapists works the same for psychotherapists and psychiatrists. Psychiatrists billing E/M visits with add-on psychotherapy codes file one claim per visit, so the same deadline covers both parts. For the wider Colorado picture, see our Colorado billing guide.

Health First Colorado timely filing: the Medicaid clock

Health First Colorado is Colorado’s Medicaid program, run by the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing (HCPF). In its Intermediate Billing training, HCPF describes an initial timely filing period of 365 days from the date of service. Count from the date of service, not from the date of a denial.

HCPF also lists what happens after a denial or past 365 days. These rules are specific to Health First Colorado:

• Denied within 365 days: correct the claim and resubmit it as a new claim, without referencing the original claim number (ICN).
• Denied or adjusted past 365 days: the new submission must be received within 60 days of the last action, such as the remittance advice, a load letter or a returned paper claim. Reference the original ICN.
• Medicare is primary: past 365 days, the claim can go in within 120 days of the Medicare explanation of benefits.
• Backdated eligibility: submit within 60 days of the load letter or enrollment letter, with the letter attached.
• Extenuating circumstances: contact the Provider Services Call Center and send a written explanation through the web portal’s secure correspondence.

The training does not tie Regional Accountable Entities (RAEs) to claim deadlines, so this guide does not state a RAE-specific limit. For billing steps, see Colorado Medicaid behavioral health billing.

Colorado commercial claim filing limit

A commercial plan’s filing limit is the number of days its contract or provider manual gives you to submit a claim. Colorado’s prompt-pay law, C.R.S. 10-16-106.5, covers how fast carriers must act on a clean claim. It does not set a deadline for providers to file.

Under that statute, a carrier must pay, deny or settle a Clean Claim within 30 calendar days when it is submitted electronically, and 45 days for other methods. If the carrier asks for more information, you have 30 calendar days to send it. Confirm the current wording on the Colorado General Assembly’s site before you rely on it.

Your filing limit therefore comes from each payer’s contract and provider manual. Pull it from your contract or the payer’s manual when you enroll, and write it down per payer. Regulators are listed at the Colorado Division of Insurance. Blue Cross Blue Shield plans are independent licensees, so never carry one plan’s limit to another. Start with the Anthem Colorado behavioral health billing guide for that plan’s contacts.

Medicare: the one-year rule

Medicare’s timely filing rule is a federal limit set by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Its claims processing manual says a claim is untimely when the receipt date is more than 12 months, or one calendar year, after the services were furnished (CMS Medicare Claims Processing Manual, Chapter 1).

The manual lists narrow exceptions, including administrative error by a Medicare contractor and retroactive Medicare entitlement. The contractor decides whether a late claim qualifies. Medicare rules are the same in Colorado as elsewhere, so this is the only part of this guide that is not Colorado-specific.

What is the timely filing limit for therapists in Colorado?

There is no single limit. Health First Colorado uses 365 days from the date of service for original claims, Medicare uses 12 months, and commercial plans use the limit in each payer’s contract or manual. Colorado’s prompt-pay statute governs how fast carriers pay clean claims, not when you must file.

How to protect a claim that might be late

Proof of timely filing is a record showing the payer received your claim before the deadline. Keep it for every claim. Our post on proof of timely filing for behavioral health covers what counts.

1. Submit through a Clearinghouse and save the acceptance report for each batch. Rejections are not receipts.
2. Work rejections and denials the week they arrive, not at month end.
3. Fix errors with a corrected claim when the payer allows it; if you disagree with a denial, appeal. Our guide on choosing a corrected claim or an appeal walks through the choice.
4. Keep the Remittance Advice and any payer letters, since Health First Colorado counts its 60-day windows from the last action.
5. For Health First Colorado, add the eligibility or load letter when coverage was backdated.

Other states use different limits. See our posts on Connecticut timely filing for therapists and Georgia timely filing for therapists, and the general guide to timely filing for therapists. Do not apply any other state’s numbers to Colorado.

Colorado timely filing for therapists: what to do Monday morning

• List every payer you bill and write its filing limit next to it, sourced from the contract or manual.
• Pull a report of claims over 60 days old with no payment, and chase them first.
• Confirm your clearinghouse acceptance reports are saved and searchable.
• Set a reminder before the Health First Colorado 365-day mark for any open claims.

How MCM South helps with Colorado timely filing for therapists

MCM South Medical Billing Service, LLC bills for psychotherapists and psychiatrists, and Colorado is one of our ten currently served states. We help with the billing side of Colorado timely filing for therapists, including claim submission, rejection follow-up and denied claim work. Each practice’s payer limits still come from its own contracts.

Where MCM South works

MCM South works with psychotherapists and psychiatrists in ten currently served states: Georgia, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Texas, Florida, New York, Colorado, Tennessee, North Carolina and Illinois. See insurance company contacts by state, who we serve and the state billing guides. This post is operational guidance for billing, not legal advice.

The short version: colorado timely filing for therapists

Colorado timely filing for therapists depends on the payer: 365 days from the date of service for original Health First Colorado claims, 12 months for Medicare, and the contract or manual limit for commercial plans. Keep proof of every submission. Write each payer’s limit down once and check it against the source. More guides are in Resources.

Sources checked (October 29, 2026)

• HCPF Intermediate Billing (3/7/24)
• C.R.S. 10-16-106.5, prompt payment of claims
• CMS Medicare Claims Processing Manual, Chapter 1
• Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing
• Colorado Division of Insurance

Frequently asked questions