Appealant

By Appealant Billing & RCM Team · Reviewed by Appealant Billing & RCM Team · Verified against primary sources 2026-07-04

CARC 45 denial code: meaning & whether to appeal (verified)

What CARC 45 means

Charge exceeds fee schedule/maximum allowable or contracted/legislated fee arrangement.

Verbatim description from the official X12 Claim Adjustment Reason Codes list.

Classification

Routing category: not denials

Appealability verdict

Contractual adjustment — not appealable as a denial

What to know

This is a contractual adjustment between billed charges and the contracted allowance. It is not a denial, and there is no appeal right attached to the adjustment itself.