May health plans stipulate the number of loop iterations or the file sizes they are willing to accept?

Any loop iterations, file sizes, etc. stipulated in the standards must be honored by all players. If any health care electronic data interchange participant cannot live with the numbers stipulated in the HIPAA implementation guides, then the participant needs to work with the implementation guide author(s) to get numbers that all players can live with For example, there are up to 99 service lines in a professional claim. The provider need not write 99 service lines, but the health plan must have the capability to accept that number when presented. If that is not the right number for all players, it should be changed. But the number identified in the implementation guide must be adhered to.  more