When a Good Faith Estimate is due
A Good Faith Estimate is due 1 business day after you book a self-pay session at least 3 business days away. For a session at least 10 business days away, it is due 3 business days after you book.
Find the due date
The day the client scheduled the session.
The day of the session.
Enter both dates to see when the estimate is due.
The dates you enter stay in your browser. The tool sends nothing and stores nothing.
The rule
45 CFR 149.610(b)(1)(vi) sets the deadlines for an uninsured or self-pay client. In the rule's words, a practice must give the estimate:
- (A) When a primary item or service is scheduled at least 3 business days before the date the item or service is scheduled to be furnished: Not later than 1 business day after the date of scheduling;
- (B) When a primary item or service is scheduled at least 10 business days before such item or service is scheduled to be furnished: Not later than 3 business days after the date of scheduling; or
- (C) When a good faith estimate is requested by an uninsured (or self-pay) individual: Not later than 3 business days after the date of the request.
Read alone, (A) and (B) overlap for a session booked 10 or more days out. CMS settles it on its page for patients: scheduled 3 to 9 business days ahead, the estimate comes within 1 business day; 10 or more, within 3. For care scheduled 0 to 2 business days ahead, CMS says the client is not entitled to a Good Faith Estimate before the service. A client who asks for one is still owed it under (C), 3 business days after asking. The tool follows that reading.
Checked against the eCFR on October 19, 2026. The latest amendment to this section is October 7, 2021.
How the tool counts the date
- Business days are Monday through Friday. The rule does not define a business day, and it does not say whether the booking day counts. The tool counts from the day after booking, up to and including the service date.
- Federal holidays are counted as business days when the tool adds days to the booking date. A holiday between the booking and the due date can make the date shown a day earlier than a count that skips the holiday. An earlier date is the safe direction, because the estimate is due not later than that day.
- When the tool picks the row, it leans the other way. A federal holiday between the two dates does not count toward the 10-business-day lead and does count toward the 3-business-day lead, so a holiday never gives a session a later deadline, or none.
- A booking made on a Saturday or Sunday is counted from that day, so its first business day is Monday: a 1-business-day deadline falls on that Monday.
- The tool does not count the request clock in (C). Under paragraph (b)(1)(iv), a client who asks what a session costs has asked for an estimate, and is owed one 3 business days after the day of the request.
Worked examples
Booked Monday, October 19, 2026 for Monday, November 9, 2026, the estimate is due by Thursday, October 22, 2026, within 3 business days of booking, under 45 CFR 149.610(b)(1)(vi)(B).
Booked Monday, October 19, 2026 for Monday, October 26, 2026, the estimate is due by Tuesday, October 20, 2026, within 1 business day of booking, under 45 CFR 149.610(b)(1)(vi)(A).
Booked Monday, October 19, 2026 for Wednesday, October 21, 2026, the session is fewer than 3 business days away, so no booking deadline applies.
Booked Wednesday, November 25, 2026 for Friday, December 11, 2026, Thanksgiving Day falls between the dates. The tool adds 3 business days with the holiday counted and shows Monday, November 30, 2026. A count that skips the holiday gives Tuesday, December 1, 2026, a day later. The earlier date is the one to meet.
This is a date calculator and not legal advice. For a booking that lands on the edge of a row, write the practice's counting rule down and ask counsel.
The guide on this question
Our guide for therapists explains who gets a Good Faith Estimate, what it must contain and how one estimate covers recurring sessions.
Priced by the size of your practice
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