The primary purpose of this revised form is to align the paper form to the electronic data standards, both the current 004010/004010A1 and the future 005010. In addition, these changes have freed up space on the UB-92 paper form for alternative reporting data.
Organizations could begin using the new UB-04 paper format on March 1, 2007 and was mandated effective May 23, 2007. After May 22, 2007, the UB-92 paper claim will not be accepted – even as an adjustment claim.

In 1975, in an effort to simplify healthcare billing in the U.S. and develop one standard, nationally-accepted billing form, the American Hospital Association brought together all national payer and provider organizations and developed the National Uniform Billing Committee (NUBC).

After years of technical data and policy debate, in 1982 the NUBC voted to accept the UB-82 and its associated data manual for implementation as a national uniform bill.
Predecessors to the UB-82 included the:

● UB-16-78 – Field-tested by five states in the 1970s.
● UBF-1 – The uniform bill used in New York State.

Once the UB-82 format and data specifications were finalized and adopted, focus moved to individual states for implementation.  As a result, the State Uniform Billing Committees (SUBC) were created to disseminate UB-82 manuals and oversee unique state billing requirements.

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