EFT Enrollment for Medicaid and Broker Payments: Forms, Timelines, and Safe Bank Changes

What EFT enrollment is

EFT stands for electronic funds transfer. The federal standard for health care EFT covers ACH deposits: the payer’s bank sends your payment straight to your business account. EFT enrollment is the paperwork that tells a payer where to send it.

There is a federal standard behind it. Since January 1, 2014, when a health plan pays a claim through the ACH network, it must use the NACHA CCD+ format and put the trace number from its 835 remittance in the payment’s addenda record (45 CFR 162.1602). That shared number is how you match each deposit to the remittance that explains it. The Medicaid program counts as a health plan under HIPAA (45 CFR 160.103).

Three federal points protect you when you enroll:

• A plan must use the standard when you ask. A health plan must conduct a transaction as a standard transaction when asked (45 CFR 162.925). CMS guidance GL-2022-04 (March 22, 2022) says that covers ACH payment with the matching 835, whether or not you are in the plan’s network.
• The plan’s form is limited. The federal EFT enrollment rule, Phase III CORE 380 (45 CFR 162.1603), caps the data a plan may ask for and requires the plan to offer an electronic way to enroll. Paper forms must follow the same data set in the same order.
• You choose who helps you. A plan may not require you to accept payment or matching services from a vendor it picks, and you may use your own billing company or clearinghouse to receive the 835.

You still enroll with each payer on its own. GL-2022-04 says a provider must enroll with each health plan it bills to get EFT and ERA.

What you need before you apply

Have these ready. The federal rule lists them as the most a health plan may collect, and state forms ask for much the same.

Item	What to check
Legal business name and address	Exactly as on your Medicaid enrollment and IRS records
Tax ID (EIN) and NPI or Medicaid provider ID	The federal rule lets you tie payments to your tax ID or your NPI. Use the same choice you picked for your 835 remittances.
Bank name and address	The branch or main office on your bank’s records
9-digit routing number	Confirm it with your bank. Indiana warns that routing numbers on deposit tickets can differ from the account’s own.
Account number and type	Checking or savings. A mismatch between the two is one of Indiana’s most common rejections.
Proof of the account	A voided check or a letter on bank letterhead. The federal rule makes these optional for the plan, and states such as Texas and New York require one.
Authorized signer	Someone on file with the payer as allowed to sign for your company
Reason for the form	New enrollment, change, or cancel

The CORE 380 rule also tells plans to remind you to ask your own bank to pass along the trace number with each deposit notice. Call your bank and ask for it, or matching deposits to remittances turns into guesswork.

How EFT enrollment works with four state Medicaid programs

State	Where to apply	What to attach	Test and start	Until then
Texas (TMHP, September 2026)	An EFT maintenance request in PEMS, the enrollment portal	A voided check or a letter on bank letterhead with routing and account numbers	A prenotification goes to your bank the next cycle. If it returns clean, EFT starts with the third cycle after the form is processed.	Paper checks. Checks not cashed within 180 days are voided.
Indiana (IHCP, modules of March 13, 2025 and September 8, 2026)	The IHCP Portal (My Home, Provider Maintenance, EFT Changes) or the IHCP Provider Electronic Funds Transfer Addendum/Maintenance Form	The form carries NPI, tax ID, IHCP Provider ID, routing and account numbers, account type, and an authorized signature	A test transmission, then EFT within three payment cycles. Its modules estimate about 18 days for the bank to set up the account, and about four weeks for processing and bank validation.	Weekly paper checks
New York (eMedNY)	The EFT Enrollment Form, mailed with an original signature. No fax, and no stamped signatures.	An original check marked void, or a notarized letter on bank letterhead signed by a bank officer	At least 6 to 8 weeks. Watch for a $0.01 test deposit, then the first real EFT about 10 days later.	Paper checks to the pay-to address on file
South Carolina (SCDHHS, July 1, 2026)	Required at enrollment, where your electronic signature covers the EFT agreement	A signed EFT Authorization Agreement, plus bank verification if the account cannot be verified	A 15-day pre-certification by the bank	Paper checks. After that, South Carolina pays by EFT and no longer issues routine paper checks.

A few rules worth knowing in these states:

• Indiana offers EFT only to billing providers, deposits it each Wednesday after the Friday financial cycle, and marks direct deposits on the remittance with check numbers that begin with 9. If a deposit has not arrived by Thursday, call Customer Assistance at 800-457-4584.
• New York starts EFT transactions on Wednesdays and says funds may take up to 48 hours to become available. It will not let your bank or clearinghouse set up EFT for you, and it needs a separate form and check or bank letter for each provider.
• South Carolina requires 30 days’ written notice before you revoke or change your EFT authorization, and will not pay into a bank or entity outside the United States.

For when each state’s money actually lands, see how long Medicaid takes to pay. Your state guide links the enrollment portal.

EFT with brokers and health plans

Every broker and health plan that pays you needs its own EFT setup. Their forms and schedules come from your contract.

Payer	How payment is set up
WellTrans, Indiana (agreement revised October 16, 2025)	The agreement packet includes an EFT Authorization Agreement and a W-9. You must sign its Account Setup Agreement to receive payment. It pays uncontested invoices twice a month, by check or electronic transfer, within 30 days of submission.
MTM Health, Wisconsin (September 2026)	Weekly payment by direct deposit
MTM Health agreement posted by Pennsylvania DHS (January 1, 2023)	If you assign your right to payments to someone else, you must give MTM written notice, with evidence of the assignment, at least 30 calendar days before any assigned payment
Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota, Medicaid Expansion (September 2026)	Its provider portal’s transaction enrollment signs you up for electronic remittances and EFT

Keep the payment account in your company’s name. Under 42 CFR 447.10, a state Medicaid program may pay only the provider, with narrow exceptions. A billing service can receive payments in your name only if its fee is tied to the cost of billing rather than a percentage of what it collects, and no payment may go to or through a factoring company. See NEMT factoring and your broker’s billing rules.

How to change bank accounts without missing a payment

A bank change repeats the whole setup, test deposit and all. Plan it like a move.

1. Open the new account first. Indiana says not to close one EFT account until the second is active, unless you switch to paper checks in the meantime.
2. Send the change to every payer. Texas takes a PEMS Maintenance EFT request. Indiana takes the portal or its maintenance form. New York wants a new signed form, an original voided check from the new account, and a letter on company letterhead describing the change. South Carolina wants a signed EFT Authorization Agreement and 30 days’ written notice.
3. Expect paper checks in between. Texas repeats its prenotification, South Carolina repeats its 15-day pre-certification, and New York pays by check until the new form is processed.
4. Report it on time. Indiana requires EFT account changes within 30 business days. See reporting changes to Medicaid.
5. Skip the paperwork only if the numbers stay the same. New York says a bank merger needs a new enrollment only if the routing or account number changes.
6. Watch the first deposits. Match each one to its remittance, and log it in a payment log.

How to keep your payments safe from fraud

The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center logged 24,768 business email compromise complaints in 2025, with $3,046,598,558 in reported losses. It describes these scams as fraudsters taking over email or phone accounts to make unauthorized transfers of funds.

• Limit who can sign. Indiana accepts EFT changes only from an authorized official or a delegated administrator listed with its enrollment unit. New York rejects unauthorized signatures.
• Never act on an emailed request. If someone asks you, or a payer, to change where your payments go, call the payer at a number you already have.
• Lock down portal logins. Whoever can log in to a payer portal may be able to change your bank details, so remove former staff right away.
• Check every remittance against the deposit. A remittance with no matching deposit is the first sign money went somewhere else.
• Move fast if it happens. The FBI says to contact your bank at once to request a recall of the funds, and to file a complaint at ic3.gov with the full transaction details.

A data breach can expose bank details too. See what to do after a NEMT data breach.