DOH Posts Staffing Funding Letters, Reconciles 2021 Cash Receipts Assessment
Nursing home providers who are slated to receive staffing funding should have received notification that a letter is available on the Health Commerce System (HCS). The notice indicates that “Files have been added to the following distribution in HCDMS: Name: SFY2023 NH Staffing Supplemental Funding” and provides the recipient a link to the Health Commerce Distribution Management System (HCDMS) on the HCS. The HCDMS is an application designed for distributing provider-specific information. A description of the applications along with the process for setting user accessibility/permissions is available here. Members may want to ensure that their profile in the HCS Communications Directory is up to date and that their organization’s HCS Coordinator has adjusted any HCDMS permissions as needed.
We are pleased that the majority of members are receiving funding, which at this time is comprised of the State share (i.e., half) of the full $187 million appropriated in the 2022-23 State Budget to help nursing homes to at least partly defray the cost of meeting new staffing level requirements. The remaining funding is expected to be distributed when federal approval of the associated Medicaid State Plan Amendment is received.
The methodology distributes the funding proportionately based on bed count to homes that are in compliance with 70/40 minimum spending requirements using 2020 cost report data. We expect the State to issue a survey to hospital-based homes that file the Residential Health Care Facility (RHCF)-2 cost report to collect the necessary information to gauge compliance with minimum spending requirements. For eligible free-standing homes, the staffing funding will be included in Medicaid payment cycle 2377, scheduled for release on March 29th/30th. A listing of other payment adjustments in that payment cycle is available here.
In addition to those adjustments, the Department has reconciled 2021 cash receipts assessment payments, which should be reflected in payment cycle 2378, released in the first week of April. DOH has posted the associated Dear Administrator Letter (DAL) here, and the backup calculations are available here. Please note that the DAL includes the correction form. Providers who identify a discrepancy should submit the completed correction form within 30 days. Please let us know if you have questions.
Contact: Darius Kirstein, dkirstein@leadingageny.org, 518-867-8841