What Availity’s New MFT Account Rules Mean for ElderSuite Claim Connections

Availity’s new MFT account requirements took effect August 15, 2026. They apply to the account that signs in at files.availity.com — the FTP Mailbox, or MFT account, that ElderSuite uses to send electronic claims and pull the reports that come back.

They do not apply to the Availity Essentials website login. That portal password is a different credential. It does not go in ElderSuite.

Adult day care providers who bill through Availity need the mailbox password stored in ElderSuite to match the password Availity currently accepts. When Availity changes the mailbox rules, ElderSuite does not need a software update. It needs the current mailbox password, then a successful Test Connection.

What Availity changed

Availity now requires every account that logs in at files.availity.com to have an email address on file. That is an Availity mailbox rule. ElderSuite has no email-on-file setting for the clearing house record.

Availity also specifies:

• a 14-character minimum password and stronger complexity rules
• lockout after three failed sign-in attempts
• lockout after 90 days of inactivity
• a password change 90 days after the account’s MFT migration, then annual expiration

Those are Availity’s rules for the mailbox. ElderSuite does not set the expiration, the lockout, or the complexity. It does not extend the password. Availity does not push a new mailbox password into ElderSuite.

The one ElderSuite limit that matters here is length: the Password box holds 25 characters. A new mailbox password has to meet Availity’s rules and still fit that box.

Two Availity logins

Availity issues two different sign-ins, and they are easy to mix up.

Availity Essentials is the website login at availity.com. Staff use it to work in Availity’s portal, including Claims & Payments → FTP and EDI Connection Services → Manage Your FTP Mailbox. That is where Availity lets you change the mailbox password.

The FTP Mailbox / MFT account is the credential ElderSuite uses. ElderSuite connects over SFTP on port 22 to files.availity.com and uses that mailbox password to upload the claim batch and download the response reports. The User Name and Password on the Availity clearing house record are the mailbox credentials, not the Essentials portal login.

Putting the portal password in ElderSuite is the usual reason a connection looks broken after someone “just reset Availity.” The portal reset succeeded. The mailbox password stored in ElderSuite did not change.

What ElderSuite does with the mailbox

ElderSuite already talks to Availity at files.availity.com on port 22. A mailbox migration on Availity’s side is not an ElderSuite install. There is no release to wait for.

When the mailbox password on file is current, ElderSuite can upload claims and download reports over that connection. When it is not, the failure is a connection failure: nothing transfers, and no report comes back.

Invalid Credentials is the useful message. The text is “Your User Name or Password is invalid.” ElderSuite reached Availity. The server address and port are fine. The sign-in was rejected. That is a mailbox user name or password problem — including an expired, locked, temporary, or recently changed password that has not been entered in ElderSuite yet.

If Availity issued a temporary mailbox password, change it with Availity first. ElderSuite cannot complete the temporary-password change. After Availity accepts the permanent mailbox password, enter that value in ElderSuite.

After Availity changes the mailbox password

Change the mailbox password on Availity’s side, then store the same value in ElderSuite.

1. In ElderSuite, open the Claim Center and click Manage Clearing Houses under Related Activities.
2. Highlight Availity and click Edit.
3. Enter the new mailbox password in the Password box. Leave User Name as it is.
4. Click Test Connection and confirm “Connected Successfully.”
5. Click Save & Close.

The Manage Clearing Houses link sits only in the Claim Center. If it is grayed out, the signed-in user does not have permission to manage clearing houses.

Availity issues and resets the mailbox password. ElderSuite stores the value you enter and uses it on the next upload or download. After the connection works again, claims that failed while it was down still need to be submitted.

For the trading-partner picture behind this connection, see What Is a Clearinghouse? A Guide for Adult Day Care Providers. For sending claims once the mailbox signs in, see How to Process Claims in ElderSuite.

What this news does not change in ElderSuite

ElderSuite does not control Availity’s password-expiration policy. It does not add an email field, a lockout counter, or a 14-character rule to the Availity record. The work in ElderSuite is the same as it is after any mailbox password change: enter the current Password, click Test Connection, and Save & Close.