Updated September 1, 2026
Verify Essence Healthcare eligibility in real time.
Essence Healthcare supports electronic real-time eligibility. Send the check to payer ID 20818 and the full benefits picture comes back in seconds, before the patient sits down.
Seconds
The same Essence Healthcare check that takes 15 to 25 minutes on the phone. Ten patients tomorrow: ten checks, or three hours on hold.
1 billing name
Every one routes to payer ID 20818, and so do 7 older payer IDs still printed on cards. No guessing which card this is.
Medicare plans
Essence Healthcare runs Medicare plans. Sign in and check any patient in one click before they arrive.
From $39/mo
Per location, billed yearly. Found checks are billed once a month, $2.50 each and less as you run more. No seat fees, no processing fees.
The phone way
Call, hold, transcribe, repeat.
Verifying Essence Healthcare by phone means a menu, a hold queue, and 15 to 25 minutes per patient while someone at the desk reads benefits back by hand. Ten patients on tomorrow's schedule is half a workday on hold.
The real-time way
Payer ID 20818, in seconds.
The same check, sent electronically. Sign in and run it for any patient in one click, and Valian flags the ones that need a human look.
| By phone | In Valian | |
|---|---|---|
| Time per patient | 15 to 25 minutes on hold | Seconds |
| When it happens | Day of, squeezed between patients | Any time before the visit, in one click |
| What you get | Notes scribbled while someone reads benefits aloud | The full breakdown, saved to the patient |
What a Essence Healthcare eligibility check returns
- Whether coverage is active, with plan and group details
- Deductible, and how much of it is already met this year
- Annual maximum, and how much of it is left to work with
- Coverage percentages by category: preventive, basic, major
- Frequency limits on cleanings, exams, and X-rays
- Waiting periods, where Essence Healthcare reports them electronically
Eligibility result
Sample data- Status
- Active
- Plan
- PPO · Group 8823
- Deductible
- $50 · $0 met
- Annual max
- $1,500 remaining
- Preventive
- 100%
- Basic
- 80%
- Major
- 50%
- Cleanings
- 2 / year
Returned in seconds · payer ID 20818
How practices handle this today, in their own words
Verbatim from recorded calls to dental offices. Names withheld.
We call the insurance, or I go on their website and do it. Yeah, we manually do it.
We have a third party insurance verification team that does it for us. I’m not too sure, maybe like seven, ten minutes.
Our system does it, and the ones that are not set up for electronic, we do ourselves.
How getting set up works
Book a discovery call
A 15-minute call with our team: we show you a check and size your plan. Then you sign up from the link we send you: create the account, sign the agreement, and put a card on file.
Save your carriers and codes
Pick the insurance carriers you take and the codes you check.
Run a check in one click
Sign in, pick a patient and see their coverage in seconds before the visit, Essence Healthcare included. No hold music, no portal logins.
Under half an hour of your time all in. See how the software compares, how a real-time check works, or what outsourcing costs.
What Essence Healthcare supports through our network
- Real-time eligibility (270/271)
- Yes, in seconds
- Enrollment for eligibility
- None, checks work day one
- Dental claims (837D)
- Not through our network
- Claim status (276/277)
- Yes
- Electronic remittance (835)
- Yes, after a multi-step enrollment, typically within hours
- Electronic funds transfer
- Not through our network
- Claim attachments
- Not through our network
Names and IDs this payer goes by
Essence Healthcare. Older cards may show payer ID 10601, 20818MA, 2274, 57082 and 8993. All of them route to payer ID 20818.
Payer site: www.essencehealthcare.com
How to verify Essence Healthcare, step by step
Get the member ID and date of birth from the card or the patient.
Send the electronic eligibility request (a 270) to payer ID 20818.
Read the response (the 271): status, deductible, max, percentages, frequencies.
Save the breakdown to the patient. With Valian, all four take one click and a few seconds.
Essence Healthcare runs Medicare plans across 4 states. Medicare dental benefits live in the specific Advantage plan, not in Medicare itself, so the plan on the card decides.
Essence Healthcare, for your front desk
Phone numbers, from Essence Healthcare's own provider pages.
- Provider customer service
- 866-597-9560
- Provider email
- providerservices@lumeris.com
Source: Essence Healthcare, login page and provider pulse page. Checked September 19, 2026.
Essence Healthcare, quick answers
Does Essence Healthcare support real-time eligibility?
Yes. Eligibility checks to Essence Healthcare clear electronically in seconds through payer ID 20818.
What payer ID do I use for Essence Healthcare?
20818 for eligibility transactions.
What does a check cost with Valian?
Plans from $39 a month per location, billed yearly, or from $49 month to month. Plus $2.50 or less per check we find — $0 when we can’t find the insurance. No setup fee and no seat fees. Sign in and run each check in one click before the visit.
Does Essence Healthcare require enrollment before I can check eligibility?
No. Eligibility checks work from day one, with no payer enrollment paperwork.
Which Essence Healthcare plans does this cover?
Essence Healthcare runs Medicare plans in Illinois, Missouri, New York and Washington. The eligibility check reads the specific plan on the patient's card, whichever program it belongs to.
Can I get Essence Healthcare remittances electronically?
Yes. Essence Healthcare sends electronic remittance advice (835) after a multi-step enrollment, typically within hours.
What if the patient's card shows a different Essence name?
Alternate billing names route to the same payer ID, 20818. The same check covers them.
More questions about verifying Essence Healthcare? Schedule 15 minutes with us and bring your toughest plan.
Check any Essence Healthcare patient in one click, before they walk in.
Plans from $39 a month per location, billed yearly, or from $49 month to month. Plus $2.50 or less per check we find — $0 when we can’t find the insurance. No setup fee and no seat fees.
Book 15 minutes, demo or onboarding
Pick a time, then tell us on the form whether it is a demo or an onboarding call.
Related payers
- Verify Aetna Better Health of Illinois eligibility
- Verify Allegiance Benefit Plan Management Incorporated eligibility
- Verify Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois eligibility
- Verify Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas eligibility
- Verify Blue Cross Community MMAI eligibility
- Verify CompBenefits Dental eligibility
More payers operating in Illinois · More payers operating in Missouri · More payers operating in New York
Payer names and marks belong to their owners and identify the insurance company a practice can verify. Sample result shown for illustration; real results reflect the patient's actual plan. Payer capabilities can change between network updates.