Health Care Worker Bonus Claiming Period Underway
Employers of workers eligible for the State’s Health Care Worker Bonus (HWB) program should submit claims for the third vesting period through the HWB portal by May 1st. The third vesting period covers workers who were employed for the six-month period spanning Oct. 1, 2022 through March 31, 2023. Please note that this third claims submission period applies to all workers originally eligible for the program as well as those made eligible by the expansion of the program in November 2022. Members may recall that the State had provided a special “catch-up” claiming period in February specifically for those made eligible by the expansion.
In an update to the HWB Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document dated April 3rd, the Department of Health (DOH) added an FAQ that indicates that providers who did not submit a claim for a qualified employee eligible for a bonus from the first or second vesting period are able to file a late submission during this claiming period. In fact, employers will be able to submit late claims for any prior vesting period during any submission period. However, because claims submitted more than 30 days after the vesting period ends are technically late for filing purposes, DOH recommends that employers document and retain information regarding the reason for any late submission. The FAQ is copied below.
Q. I am a qualified employer who was unable to complete my submission of qualified employees during a prior vesting period. Can I submit employees eligible for a bonus for Vesting Period 1 and/or 2 at a later date?
A. Providers/Employers who were not able to or did not complete submission of qualified employees within 30 days of the end of the Vesting Period when the employee was eligible are able to file a late submission.
Employers will be able to submit claims for any prior vesting period during any submission period. For example, during Submission Period 5, employers will be permitted to submit claims for any of the five Vesting Periods.
- Employers should make every attempt to submit claims as soon as the employee is eligible.
- Employers must validate that employee(s) met all other qualifying criteria during the respective vesting period.
- This flexibility does not change the criteria that a qualified employee is eligible for only two vesting periods per employer in an amount equal but not greater than $3,000 across all employers.
Please be advised that, in accordance with SOS § 367-w(4)(f), claims submitted more than 30 days after the respective Vesting Period are technically late for filing purposes. All Employers should document and retain information regarding the reason for any late submission for audits and investigation purposes relating to the submission of claims for the HWB Program.
[Note that as of April 4th, the posting of this FAQ on the HWB webpage also includes a fourth bullet (copied below), which is inconsistent with the response. This bullet is absent in the PDF version of the FAQ.
- An extension to submit for Vesting Period 1 will be limited to only the submission close date for Vesting Period 2 (October 31st)]
We also remind members that in mid-March, DOH added an FAQ announcing the process for returning HWB overpayments. More information on that is available here. The State has not yet indicated when bonus payments for claims submitted during the February expansion claiming cycle will be paid.
Contact: Darius Kirstein, dkirstein@leadingageny.org, 518-867-8841