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PA Bulletin, Doc. No. 04-2286

NOTICES

DEPARTMENT OF
PUBLIC WELFARE

Intermediate Care Facilities for the Mentally Retarded Assessment

[34 Pa.B. 6787]

   The purpose of this notice is to propose the amount, methodology and aggregate impact of the assessment on Intermediate Care Facilities for the Mentally Retarded (ICFs/MR). This notice is published in compliance with section 805-C (A) of Act 69 of 2004 (act) (62 P. S. §§ 805-C) and section 811-C of Act 154 of 2004 (62 P. S. § 811-C).

   Article VIII-C of Act 69 of 2004 (62 P. S. §§ 801-C--811-C) authorizes the Department of Public Welfare (Department) to implement a monetary assessment on each ICF/MR within the Commonwealth. The act further requires that the Department provide initial and final public notices describing the assessment methodology and providing the level of assessment and the aggregate fiscal impact of the assessment. Interested parties are given 30 days from the initial notice to submit comments to the Department, and the comments are to be considered in the final assessment rate which will then be published in a second notice in the Pennsylvania Bulletin. Act 154 of 2004 amends the act to allow the Department to impose the assessment effective July 1, 2003, for the NonState ICF/MR and ICF/ORC (Intermediate Care Facilities for Persons with Other Related Conditions) programs and allows the Department to impose the assessment effective July 1, 2004, for the Public ICF/MR programs.

Assessment Methodology and Amount

   The Department intends to impose an assessment on each licensed ICF/MR (which includes NonState ICFs/MR, ICFs/ORC and State Centers) within the Commonwealth at a level of 6% of net operating revenue. The initial assessment will be made retroactively to July 1, 2003, as permitted under section 811-C of the act for NonState-ICF/MR and ICF/ORC programs and amended under section 811-C of Act 154 of 2004. The Department intends that the initial assessment for Fiscal Year 2003-04 will be imposed as a single annual amount and will be based on the revenue submitted by the providers on their most recently accepted annual cost reports for the NonState ICF/MR and ICF/ORC programs. The Department has determined that the most recent available revenue amounts for the Nonstate ICF/MR and ICF/ORC programs are from the Fiscal Year 2002-03 cost reports. These revenue amounts will be trended forward by the budget inflators used by the Department for rate setting purposes. The budget inflator for Fiscal Year 2003-04 was 1% for the NonState ICF/MR program and 2% for the ICF/ORC program.

   For Fiscal Year 2004-05 the Department will calculate the annual assessment amount for each provider again using the revenue amounts from the providers' most recently accepted cost reports for the NonState ICF/MR and ICF/ORC programs. These revenue amounts will be trended forward by the applicable budget inflators used by the Department for rate setting. For Fiscal Year 2004-05 the most recent available revenue amounts for the NonState ICF/MR and ICF/ORC programs are again from the providers' Fiscal Year 2002-03 cost reports. The Department has determined that the most recent available adjusted net operating revenue amounts for the State Centers are from the Fiscal Year 2002-2003 cost apportionment report. There are no inflationary increases applied to these amounts.

   The budget inflators are 1% for Fiscal Year 2003-04 and 2% for Fiscal Year 2004-05 for the NonState ICF/MR program. The budget inflators are 2% for Fiscal Year 2003-2004 and 2% for Fiscal Year 2004-2005 for the ICF/ORC program. For Fiscal Year 2004-2005, the most recent available adjusted net operating revenue amounts for the State Centers are in the Fiscal Year 2002-2003 Cost Apportionment Report. There is no inflationary increase applied to the State Centers for Fiscal Year 2004-2005.

   Once the annual assessment for Fiscal Year 2004-2005 has been determined, the assessment will be collected on a quarterly basis from the providers and the State Centers. For Fiscal Years 2005-2006 and thereafter, the Department intends to determine the assessment amounts using the same methodology as outlined above for Fiscal Year 2004-2005. The Department intends to use the most recent available revenue data as submitted on the providers' most recently accepted annual cost reports as the basis for determining the 6% assessment amounts for the NonState ICF/MR and the ICF/ORC programs and the most recently identified cost apportionment report for the State Centers.

   For each year for which the assessment is in place, including the initial Fiscal Year 2003-04 (for the NonState ICF/MR and ICF/ORC programs only), the Department will provide each ICF/MR the specific amount of the assessment calculated for the facility.

Fiscal Impact

   The proposed Fiscal Year 2003-04 assessment is expected to generate additional aggregate revenue of $14.645 million during Fiscal Year 2004-05 and the Fiscal Year 2004-05 assessment is expected to generate additional aggregate revenue of $31.237 million of which $27.388 million is expected to be received during Fiscal Year 2004-05.

Public Comment

   Interested persons are invited to submit written comments regarding this notice to the Department at the following address: Office of Mental Retardation, Attn: Regulations Coordinator, P. O. Box 2675, Harrisburg, PA 17105-2675. Comments received within 30 days will be reviewed and considered for the final publication of this notice.

   Persons with a disability who require an auxiliary aid or service may submit comments using the AT&T Relay Service by calling (800) 654-5984 (TDD users) or (800) 654-5988 (voice users).

ESTELLE B. RICHMAN,   
Secretary

   Fiscal Note: 14-NOT-404; (8) recommends adoption. This public notice announces the generation of an additional $14,645,000 in revenue in Fiscal Year 2004-05 from 2003-04 assessments to ICFs/MR facilities including $14,510,000 in the Intermediate Care Facilities--MR appropriation and $135,000 in the Services to Persons with Disabilities appropriation. The Fiscal Year 2004-05 assessments are estimated to generate an additional $27,388,000 in revenue during 2004-05 including $16,038,000 in the State Centers for the Mentally Retarded appropriation, $11,260,000 in the Intermediate Care Facilities--MR appropriation and $90,000 in the Services to Persons with Disabilities appropriation. Total additional aggregate revenue during Fiscal Year 2004-05 would be $42,033,000.

[Pa.B. Doc. No. 04-2286. Filed for public inspection December 23, 2004, 9:00 a.m.]


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