# A Payer Portal Says “Paid”—Why We Still Verify the Deposit

Brace Health’s perspective on reconciling payer payment status against remittance details and provider deposit records.

## Our perspective: “paid” is a status, not the end of reconciliation

We found older claims that remained open in billing records even though payer portals showed them as paid. Some corresponding payments had not reached the provider. A mailing-address error explained some checks, but not every missing payment.

We compared portal payment information with remittance and provider payment records. When a record was missing, we asked the provider to verify deposits against bank statements. Some payer portals offered cashed-check details; others did not. The provider confirmed deposits for some recovered payments, while work on another group remained ongoing.

We did not have bank records, an exact payment count, or a verified dollar total, so we make no claim about total recovery or overall financial impact.

## Trace the payment across records

For a claim that appears paid but has no matching deposit or remittance:

1. Confirm the payer, claim, payment status, and payment date in the portal.
2. Find the associated ERA, EOB, check, or EFT trace details.
3. Ask the provider to check deposits and paper mail for the relevant period.
4. Compare identifying details and amount across the portal, remittance, and bank record.
5. If the payer says a check was issued but it cannot be located, follow that payer’s research or reissue process.
6. Keep ownership and next follow-up visible until receipt and posting are confirmed.

The exact steps differ by payer and payment method. A “paid” indicator is a reason to inspect the trail—not proof that reconciliation is complete.

## The Brace Health point of view

We include this kind of verification when reviewing older outstanding claims. That moves the work beyond asking whether a claim changed status: it checks whether the payment actually reached the provider. For the step-by-step process, see [what to do when a payer says a claim was paid but the deposit is missing](/resources/what-to-do-when-payer-says-paid-but-deposit-is-missing).