ANSWERS · REVENUE CYCLE

What percentage of denied claims are never appealed?

Most denied claims are never appealed — industry analyses commonly put it around 60% left unworked, and a large share of those were recoverable. The reason isn't that the denials were wrong; it's that appealing each one by hand costs more time than a small claim returns, so it gets written off.

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What actually matters

  • Roughly 60% of denied claims are never resubmitted or appealed, by common industry estimates
  • A majority of denials are considered recoverable, meaning much of that write-off pile was winnable money
  • The gap is economic: manual rework cost per claim exceeds the value of small denials
  • Denials also age out of timely-appeal windows while they sit, converting recoverable dollars into permanent losses
  • The number that matters for your practice isn't the denial rate — it's the share of denials you actually work

Common questions

Are unappealed denials usually recoverable?

A large share are. Most denials stem from fixable issues — coding, auth, eligibility, or payer error — not from care that was truly non-covered. The write-off pile is mostly money left on the table, not money that was never owed.

Where Volari fits: Volari exists for that unworked 60% — the denied claims you'd otherwise write off because chasing each by hand costs more than the claim returns.

Related answers
How do I lower my practice's denial rate?How do I reduce days in A/R?How do I read an EOB or 835 remittance?How do I know if I'm being underpaid by insurers?In-house billing vs. outsourcing: which is right for my practice?How do I renegotiate payer contracts for better rates?

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