Staffing Funding for Hospital-Based Homes on the Way
The long-awaited State share of safe staffing funding for hospital-based homes that file the Residential Health Care Facility (RHCF)-2 cost report is in process. The Department of Health (DOH) notified RHCF-2 filers eligible for funding that letters have been posted on the Document Management System section of the Health Commerce System (HCDMS). The letter provides the amount of the facility’s distribution and indicates that the funding will be reflected in the Medicaid payment released on Jan. 31st. Please note that most, but not all, RHCF-2-filing homes qualified for funding.
Members may recall that this funding (which should equal roughly $1,060 per bed) was appropriated in the State Budget to help nursing homes defray some of the cost of nursing staffing level requirements. Receipt of that funding was made contingent on homes meeting 70/40 minimum spending requirements in 2020. Homes that filed RHCF-2 Medicaid cost reports in 2020 were asked to submit some additional financial information to allow the Department to ascertain compliance with minimum spending requirements. That additional information was submitted by hospital-based homes back in May. Homes that file the RHCF-4 Medicaid cost report and were deemed compliant with minimum spending requirements received their State-share funding at the end of March.
Because the funding is still awaiting federal approval, this distribution represents the State share (i.e., 50 percent) of the total, with the remainder expected to be paid once Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) approval is received.
Contact: Darius Kirstein, dkirstein@leadingageny.org, 518-867-8841