By Michael Chen · Published November 5, 2026 · 7 min read
Quick Answer: There is no Availity fax number on its public support, locations or registration pages (checked on 2026-11-13). It is a multi-payer portal and clearinghouse, so eligibility checks, claims, authorizations and attachments go through Availity Essentials. When a payer still asks for a fax, usually clinical records for a pended authorization, the fax goes to the payer's own number, printed on its form or letter. Availity's support line is 1-800-282-4548. A practice that faxes payers every week can do it from its own number, with a signed BAA, on mFax Business.
People search for an Availity fax number because a payer's form or letter mentions Availity, and the next step seems to be a fax. But Availity is not the insurer. It is the network that Aetna, Anthem, Wellcare and other plans use to take provider transactions electronically. The payer reviews your request, not Availity, and none of the Availity pages we read names a fax line for records.
Below is what Availity actually takes, when a payer still wants paper, whose fax number that is, and how to reach Availity itself. Every source was read on Availity's site or the payer's own pages, checked on 2026-11-13.
Is There an Availity Fax Number?
Availity lists no fax number on any of its public contact pages we read. Its customer support page gives one phone number and a ticket form inside the portal. Its locations page gives the Jacksonville, Florida headquarters at 5555 Gate Pkwy, Ste. 110, with no fax.
| Availity page (checked on 2026-11-13) | What it lists | Fax number? |
|---|---|---|
| Customer Support | 1-800-282-4548, Mon–Fri 8 a.m.–8 p.m. Eastern; tickets inside Availity Essentials | None |
| Locations | Jacksonville, FL headquarters; Bangalore, India office | None |
| Essentials Portal Registration | Account sign-up and the same support line | None |
| Multi-Payer Portal | Eligibility, authorizations, claims, attachments, appeals | None |
| Clearinghouse & Trading Partner Network | EDI connectivity for payers, providers and vendors | None |
A fax number you find on a third-party directory under Availity's name is not on Availity's own site. Don't send patient records to it.
Never fax PHI to a number you can't trace
A wrong fax number is a misdirected disclosure of protected health information. Take the number from the payer's own form, letter or provider page, and keep the transmission record. Our guide to faxing PHI securely covers what to check before you press Send.
What You Submit Through Availity Instead
Availity Essentials takes the routine provider-to-payer transactions electronically. Its multi-payer portal page lists eligibility and benefits checks, authorization requests with medical attachments, electronic claims with supporting documentation, claim status, remittance and claim appeals. Its registration page says providers can submit ANSI, HIPAA and HL7 transactions there.
| What you need to send | How it goes through Availity | Fax still involved? |
|---|---|---|
| Eligibility and benefits check | Real-time inquiry in Essentials | No |
| Claim | Electronic claim, through Essentials or Availity's clearinghouse | Rarely. Wellcare, for one, refuses faxed claim forms |
| Prior authorization | Request in Essentials, using the payer's tool | Sometimes, for records after the request is pended |
| Supporting medical records | Attached to the authorization or claim | Only if the payer offers its own fax line as the alternative |
| Claim dispute or appeal | Filed online, for payers that take them there | Some payers also take appeals by fax or mail, at their own number |
| Payer letters | Some payers deliver them through Availity's Digital Correspondence Hub | No |
Sign-up is free. Availity describes the Essentials account as a free portal and points new users to its registration page. Which payers you can reach depends on the payer list inside Essentials.
When a Payer Still Asks for a Fax
A payer asks for a fax mostly after you have already used Availity: the request is pended and the reviewer wants clinical records. That fax goes to the payer's number, and the payer prints it on the form or the letter that asks for the records.
Aetna's Precertification Information Request Form (GR-68831, 11-25) shows the pattern clearly. It opens with "Do not use this form to initiate a precertification request. To initiate a request, submit electronically on Availity or call our Precertification Department." Then:
- Submit the request on Availity with the Authorization (Precertification) Add transaction.
- Answer the clinical questionnaire if Availity shows one.
- If the response is pended, fill in the form and attach it to the case in Availity. Or fax it, with the records, to Aetna's FaxHub line printed on the form.
The form adds that the FaxHub line "is for clinical information only" and that claims go to other numbers. That is the general rule: a payer fax line takes one kind of document, and the number belongs to the payer. Our Aetna fax number guide lists that line and Aetna's appeal fax numbers, with their sources.
What to Put on the Fax
When you fax records instead of uploading them, the payer needs to match the pages to the case Availity opened. Put these on the cover sheet:
- the reference or case number Availity or the payer gave you
- the member's name, ID and date of birth
- the requesting provider's name, NPI and a callback number
- the page count and a confidentiality notice
Our medical fax cover sheet guide has a template with each field.
How Aetna, Anthem and Wellcare Route Through Availity
Each payer decides which of its transactions run through Availity, and the split is not the same from plan to plan. Here is what each payer's own documents say.
| Payer | What goes through Availity | Where a fax still fits | Fax numbers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aetna (commercial and Medicare plans) | Claims, authorizations and referrals, eligibility, record uploads, disputes and appeals (Aetna's Availity page) | Records for a pended precertification, to FaxHub; appeals by fax are also accepted | Aetna guide |
| Anthem | Claims, eligibility, claim status, remittance; precertification through the Interactive Care Reviewer (ICR) in Availity | Each state and program prints its own prior authorization and records fax lines | Anthem guide |
| Wellcare | Claims: Availity is its preferred EDI clearinghouse, with free direct data entry | Authorizations go through Wellcare's own Provider Portal or by fax to the number on the form | Wellcare guide |
Aetna. Its precertification form sends new requests to Availity and covers both "Commercial and Medicare" precertification on the same FaxHub line. Its disputes and appeals page says the dispute form isn't needed when you file through Availity, and that appeals can also go by mail or fax.
Anthem. Anthem's Indiana Medicaid prior authorization page sends providers to the ICR through Availity, under Patient Registration › Authorizations & Referrals. The same page lists separate fax lines for precertification and for clinical documentation that Anthem's utilization management team asks for. California's provider contact guide says Availity Essentials lets you "Submit electronic claims, obtain eligibility and benefits, check claim status, access remittance advice, and download EOP."
Wellcare. Its Claims, Disputes & Recovery Guide (last updated August 2026) says "Wellcare has partnered with Availity as our preferred EDI Clearinghouse" and "Wellcare does not accept handwritten, faxed or replicated claim forms." Claim disputes, it adds, go through Wellcare's own Provider Portal. Its Florida Medicare authorizations page doesn't mention Availity at all.
Original Medicare forms follow their own routes: appeals go to the Medicare Administrative Contractor named on the Medicare Summary Notice, and enrollment forms go to Social Security. Our Medicare fax number guide lists where each form goes.
Check the member's plan first
One payer can run several routes. Wellcare's claims guide tells providers to "refer to the member ID card to determine appropriate authorization and claims submission process," and Anthem's California contact guide covers California plans only. Read the guide for the member's plan before you choose where a request or a fax goes.
Availity Support Phone Number and Contacts
Availity Client Services is at 1-800-282-4548 (800-AVAILITY), Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern. Availity's customer support page says the phone line is for Essentials and Essentials Plus account holders who can't log in. If you can log in, open a support ticket inside Availity Essentials.
| Contact | Details | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Phone | 1-800-282-4548, Mon–Fri 8 a.m.–8 p.m. Eastern | Availity customer support |
| Support ticket | Log in to Availity Essentials | Same page |
| New account | Registration page, free Essentials account | Essentials registration |
| Headquarters | 5555 Gate Pkwy, Ste. 110, Jacksonville, FL 32256 | Availity locations |
| Fax | None listed | All of the above |
Payers print the same number. Aetna gives 1-800-282-4548, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. ET, and Anthem California prints "800-AVAILITY (282-4548)" with hours of 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. Pacific, the same window. Wellcare's claims guide sends EDI connection questions there too.
Call Availity for account, login and connection problems. Questions about a decision, a pended case or a records request go to the payer's provider services line.
How to Fax Clinical Records to a Payer Securely
If the payer's letter says to fax the records, the fax carries protected health information, and HIPAA's rules follow it. A cloud fax service that stores PHI for a practice is a business associate, and the practice needs a signed business associate agreement with it. Our BAA for fax service guide explains what that agreement must cover.
- Take the number from the payer's document, the form, letter or provider page, never from a search result.
- Put the case reference on the cover sheet so the pages reach the right review.
- Send only what the request asks for: the minimum necessary records.
- Keep the transmission record until the payer confirms it has the documents.
mFax Business is built for that: HIPAA-compliant faxing with a signed BAA on every plan, AES-256 encryption at rest, TLS 1.2+ in transit, audit logs, and a confirmed-or-failed status on every fax. Your practice gets its own fax number to receive the payer's replies. Plans start from about $9/mo, and you build your own from the seats and pages you need. Our HIPAA-compliant fax guide compares the requirements in full.
Fax the Payer, Not the Portal
Most practices end up with both: Availity for eligibility, claims and authorization requests, and a fax line for the payers and records requests that still ask for paper. Start the request in Availity, and when a payer asks for records by fax, use the number on that payer's own form or letter.
mFax doesn't connect to Availity. It handles the fax side: members send from the web, mobile and desktop apps, or from email, and every Business plan includes access to the mFax API at developers.mfax.to for teams that automate sends from their own software.
mFax Business gives your practice its own fax number, a signed BAA and a status on every send, from about $9/mo.