DOH Holds 2022 Home Care Cost Report Lessons Learned Webinar
Last week, the Department of Health (DOH) and contractor KPMG hosted the 2022 Home Care Cost Report Lessons Learned webinar. DOH and KPMG conducted audits on select submissions after the submission period from Sept. 13, 2023 to Jan. 10, 2024.
Presenters reminded participants that the Cost Report online tool includes a wealth of resources including all recorded webinars, tutorial videos, Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), and templates to help agencies submit a complete and accurate report.
Lessons Learned Highlights
Many of the lessons learned were issues highlighted from last year. KPMG once again pointed to supporting documentation as a common area for Cost Report errors. Uploaded documents in the form of hard-coded spreadsheets and PDF files are not easily reconcilable by auditors. KPMG urges agencies to utilize the PILOT PROGRAM TEMPLATE for supporting documents.
Agencies are still incorrectly reporting costs. KPMG noted that Schedule 3 is total costs, while Schedule 4 breaks out the administrative costs. Schedule 3 tallies must be higher than those on Schedule 4. Schedule 4 does not include any direct care costs other than the line for medical supplies.
Worker recruitment and retention (WR&R) costs and revenues were one of the most commonly seen errors by auditors. Templates are provided in the tool to avoid these errors.
Presenters also shared that cost entries and statistics must match.
New Changes in 2023 Report
The 2023 Home Care Cost Report will be launched at the end of May or in early June 2024. Agencies should review the Lessons Learned session recording and slides to understand the trouble areas, as well as note General Questionnaire and Reporting Hierarchy errors.
The presenters outlined some changes for the 2023 Cost Report. The instructions will be updated, and at least seven new edit checks will be added. Some of the edit checks will require correction before completing the report. There will be new questions in the General Questionnaire and some consolidation of the rows on Schedule 4.
The most significant change to the report will be the addition of Schedule 20, which will be a minimum wage certification and will require data from a sample of 30 home care workers.
Agencies will also be required to upload supporting documentation (e.g., payroll register) for ALL employees as part of their 2023 Cost Report submission. Agencies should note that compliance is mandatory. A third-party vendor may complete the Cost Report, but the agency is responsible for its accuracy and timely submission.
Learn more about the Home Care Cost Report here.
Contact: Meg Everett, meverett@leadingageny.org, 518-867-8871