Government Shutdown Fallout: What It Means for Your A/R and Remittance Processing

As the latest government shutdown drags on, revenue cycle teams across the country are seeing a troubling pattern emerge: longer delays in remittances, mounting aged A/R, and ambiguous CARC/RARC codes that point to suspended payments and increased claim holds.

If your organization relies on CMS and its federal payers (Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP, TRICARE, VA), this isn’t just a bureaucratic headache. It’s a direct hit to cash flow, compensation, and operational predictability.

Here’s what we’re seeing and what Adonis is doing to help.

What’s Happening in the Field

Across the Adonis customer base, our Intelligence product has begun detecting measurable slowdowns in payment timelines from government-sponsored payers. Most notably:

• Increased aged A/R across government payers
  
• New or infrequent CARC/RARC codes showing up in remittances (e.g., CARC 24 with unclear remark codes) suggesting “payment withheld,” “processing delayed,” or “insufficient funds.”
  
• Delayed or missing remittances leading to revenue recognition delays and cash forecasting gaps.

Revenue cycle teams are left to decipher vague denial messages, track down government reps who may not be available, and manage downstream impacts like provider compensation tied to collections.

Why It Matters 

This isn’t just a short-term blip for many organizations. It’s impacting key financial metrics:

• Delayed collections distort revenue-based compensation models.
  
• Cash flow planning becomes unpredictable as payments trickle in without notice.
  
• Denials and denial disputes go unresolved longer as government payer processing centers have advised that the IDR process might need to be paused entirely or face significant backlogs

Teams are bracing for increased denials and other operational areas suffering from downstream slowdowns  With RCM teams already stretched thin, the added burden of manually identifying and resolving these emerging trends creates risk, not just in operations, but in physician satisfaction and retention.

How Adonis Acts Before Cash Flow Becomes a Crisis

At Adonis, we’ve built our platform to detect these shifts and act before they escalate. Here’s how we’re helping teams get ahead of the government shutdown’s revenue impact:

Real-Time Alerts on A/R Spikes

Our Intelligence system continuously monitors for anomalous A/R aging trends, particularly across government payers. When spikes occur, we flag them immediately so you’re not discovering them in a month-end report.

CARC/RARC Code Measurement & Interpretation

Adonis flags and decodes non-standard denial and remark codes that often signal payment holds or processing issues. 

These alerts are not only surfaced, they’re tied to recommendations that direct your team’s next steps for follow-up and remediation.

AI Agents for Follow-Up on Withheld Payments

When issues are identified, Adonis AI Agents automatically:

• Outreach payers to confirm receipt, reason for delay, and anticipated remittance timing.
  
• Record all payer responses, including temporary suspension notices and appeal instructions.
  
• Trigger workflows for escalation if timelines extend beyond thresholds.

In cases where human intervention is required, our agentic workflows seamlessly route cases to the right team members, ensuring nothing slips through the cracks.

Don’t Let Delays Become Denials

Government payers may be paused, but your financial obligations aren’t. Physician comp, payroll, and growth plans all depend on timely, predictable revenue. Adonis helps you stay ahead by:

• Detecting spikes in government A/R early.
  
• Surfacing the specific claim codes and claim cohorts causing delays.
  
• Automating the follow-up work needed to unlock withheld dollars.

The government may not be moving fast, but your revenue cycle still can.

Want to see how Adonis can help your organization stay ahead of A/R delays? Request a demo →