Health-Care EFT Transaction Volume Via the ACH Grows Nearly 180% in a Year

Health-care electronic funds transfers via the automated clearing house network increased by 177% from October 2013, the first full month a new rule intended to spur such payments was in effect, through September 2014, ACH governing body NACHA reported Monday.

Herndon, Va.-based NACHA says transaction volume in September was 15.5 million versus 5.6 million in October of last year. In all, some 120.6 million in health-care EFT transactions worth $680.5 billion flowed through the ACH network during the period. The average transaction was $5,642, according to the NACHA data.

Much of the growth is the result of a federal mandate that took effect in January that requires health-care plans to be able to send electronic payments via the ACH if requested by medical providers, according to NACHA. Health-care transaction volume also got a sizable lift in July when Medicare, the federal medical-insurance plan for senior citizens, implemented changes created by the new rule, including a transaction identifier that allows ACH operators to identify health-care payments.

The new volume flows through the ACH network under a business-to-business transaction code known as CCD+Addenda (for cash concentration or disbursement). NACHA adopted its heath-care rule to bring standardization to ACH credit payments and remittances associated with claims paid by medical insurers to health-care providers.