Pennsylvania Code & Bulletin
COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA

• No statutes or acts will be found at this website.

The Pennsylvania Bulletin website includes the following: Rulemakings by State agencies; Proposed Rulemakings by State agencies; State agency notices; the Governor’s Proclamations and Executive Orders; Actions by the General Assembly; and Statewide and local court rules.

PA Bulletin, Doc. No. 07-1875

NOTICES

Payments to County Nursing Facilities; Proposed Rates for State Fiscal Year 2007-2008

[37 Pa.B. 5573]
[Saturday, October 13, 2007]

Purpose of Notice

   This notice announces the Department of Public Welfare's (Department) proposed annual rates for State Fiscal Year (FY) 2007-2008, for county nursing facilities that participate in the Medical Assistance (MA) Program.

   The rates will be calculated in accordance with 55 Pa. Code Chapter 1189, Subchapter D (relating to rate setting). As stated at § 1189.91(b) (relating to per diem rates for county nursing facilities), for each rate year beginning on or after July 1, 2007, the per diem rate paid to a county nursing facility for a rate year will be the facility's prior rate year per diem rate multiplied by a budget adjustment factor (BAF).

   As required by § 1189.91(d), the Department intends to follow the formula set forth in the Commonwealth's approved State Plan to determine the BAF to be applied to county nursing facility payment rates for FY 2007-2008. On June 29, 2007, the Department submitted State Plan Amendment (SPA) 07-008 to the Federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to include the BAF formula which the Department will use in FY 2007-2008.

   The Department published a public notice at 37 Pa.B. 3036 (June 30, 2007), which announced the BAF for county and nonpublic nursing facilities for FY 2007-2008 based on the funding provided in the Governor's executive budget. Subsequent to publication of the notice, the General Assembly approved the final budget bill. The Department has determined, based on the appropriation in the final budget, that the percentage rate of increase appropriated for nursing facility services for FY 2007-2008 is 3%.

   The budget adjustment factor for rate setting year 2007-2008 shall limit the estimated aggregate increase in the Statewide day-weighted average payment rate for MA nursing facility services for county and nonpublic nursing facilities over the 3 year period commencing July 1, 2005, and ending June 30, 2008, from the Statewide day-weighted average payment rate for MA nursing facility services for county and nonpublic nursing facilities in rate year 2004-2005 to 10.12%. The formula for this budget adjustment factor as it applies to county nursing facilities is as follows: BAF = 1.00 + 0.03.

   Due to the change in the amount appropriated for nursing facilities, on July 26, 2007, the Department submitted revised State Plan pages for SPA 07-008 to CMS. The budget adjustment factor for county nursing facilities for FY 2007-2008 will be 1.03, contingent upon CMS' approval of SPA 07-008.

   The proposed per diem rates for FY 2007-2008 are available on the website for the Office of Medical Assistance Programs (OMAP) at www.dpw.state.pa.us/omap and at local county assistance offices throughout the Commonwealth or by contacting Tom Jayson, Policy Unit, Office of Long-Term Living at (717) 705-3705.

Fiscal Impact

   The change in county nursing facility payment rates, effective July 1, 2007, is estimated to cost the Department $17.251 million ($7.908 million in State funds) in FY 2007-2008.

Public Comment

   Interested persons are invited to submit written comments regarding the proposed rates for FY 2007-2008 or the BAF formula, to the Department at the following address: Department of Public Welfare, Office of Long-Term Living, Attention: Gail Weidman, P. O. Box 2675, Harrisburg, PA 17105. Comments received within 30 days will be reviewed and considered for any subsequent revision of the notice.

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

ESTELLE B. RICHMAN,   
Secretary

   Fiscal Note: 14-NOT-527. (1) General Fund; (2) Implementing Year 2007-08 is $7,908,000; (3) 1st Succeeding Year 2008-09 is $8,627,000; 2nd Succeeding Year 2009-10 is $8,627,000; 3rd Succeeding Year 2010-11 is $8,627,000; 4th Succeeding Year 2011-12 is $8,627,000; 5th Succeeding Year 2012-13 is $8,627,000; (4) 2006-07 Program--$695,279,000; 2005-06 Program--$817,890,000; 2004-05 Program--$476,116,000; (7) Medical Assistance--Long-Term Care; (8) recommends adoption. Funds have been included in the budget to cover these increases.

[Pa.B. Doc. No. 07-1875. Filed for public inspection October 12, 2007, 9:00 a.m.]



No part of the information on this site may be reproduced for profit or sold for profit.

This material has been drawn directly from the official Pennsylvania Bulletin full text database. Due to the limitations of HTML or differences in display capabilities of different browsers, this version may differ slightly from the official printed version.