Free Tool

Universe Header Check

Paste the header row from your CMS universe file. The tool checks it against the current CMS Program Audit spec and reports exact matches, casing or whitespace issues, wrong positions, missing columns, and extras.

Headers only. No member data, no PHI. The tool runs entirely in your browser.

25 columns expected · Standard and Expedited Pre-service Organization Determinations

Copying from Excel pastes as tab-separated, which the tool parses automatically.

Get header check results

Free for Medicare Advantage plans. Work email required. Headers stay in your browser.

We'll never share your email. After you submit once, you can run more checks in this session without re-entering.

About this tool

The header check validates against the current CMS Program Audit specifications (OMB approval expires 2027-01-31). It catches the issues that cause CMS to reject universe submissions before audit fieldwork even begins. The full CMS Universe Scrubber runs 1,600+ row-level rules in addition to header validation.