Information for Data Submitters: Adult Foster Care Cost Reports

Overview

The Center for Health Information and Analysis (CHIA) is now collecting cost reports for the fiscal year (FY) 2021 from Adult Foster Care (AFC) providers. CHIA collects these reports pursuant to regulation 957 CMR 6.00. The reports are used by CHIA and other public entities for monitoring costs and for health care payment policy development. Dual providers of both Adult Foster Care (AFC) and Group Adult Foster Care services (GAFC) services must file separate cost reports.

PLEASE NOTE:
The Center for Health Information and Analysis (CHIA) is providing an opportunity to all adult foster care (AFC) providers to review and resubmit the FY2021 AFC cost reports. During the preliminary assessment of the submitted FY2021 cost reports, CHIA has found issues with some of the submissions. Please review your cost report to make sure there are no incomplete, inaccurate, or missing values in the cost report. In addition, CHIA is still accepting FY2021 AFC cost reports if you have not yet submitted your cost report.

Examples of cost report data that need to be reviewed, corrected, and resubmitted:

• Inaccurate Units of Service (Member Days) on Schedule, CA – Caregiver Stipends: Accurate Number of Member Days (units of service) is required for the report to be considered complete and acceptable. Units of Services are the total days of AFC service provided to AFC members by Caregivers and Alternate Caregivers during the fiscal year. For example, if you served three Level I AFC members during FY2021, and two were served for the full year, and one was served for 3 months (91 days) during the year: (2 members x 365 days) + (1 member x 91 days) = 821 units

• Incorrect Total Stipend Payment on Schedule, CA – Caregiver Stipends: Total Stipend Payment should be equal to or greater than (Units of Services)*(Minimum Daily Stipend). If this is not the case, please correct your data and resubmit your cost report.

• Direct or Indirect Staff Expenses Reported with Blank FTEs on Schedule B, Administrative Expenses or Schedule C, Direct Care Expenses: If you reported expenses for certain staff positions, you must report FTEs for those positions. It is considered an error to leave the FTE blank in this instance. If you reported FTEs for certain staff positions, you must report expenses for those staff positions. It is considered an error to leave the expenses blank in this instance.

Filing Application

AFC providers are required to submit the following:

• The FY2021 AFC Cost Report Template (Excel)
• FY2021 Financial Statements
• A Statement of Certification
  
  

NOTE: Please resubmit only (1) your excel cost report and (2) a new certification, if you had already submitted the initial FY2021 AFC cost report, financial statement, and certification. 

CHIA only accepts cost reports in .xlsx format. Supporting documents such as the Financial Statements and Statement of Certification should be in PDF format. Additionally, if the numbers on the submitted cost report cannot be traced directly to the financial statements, include a reconciliation of the numbers in the cost report and the financial statements. This may be filed as an Excel spreadsheet attached to the electronic filing of the report.

Providers submit reports and all supplemental items directly to CHIA at data@chiamass.gov.

Links to download the Excel cost report and instruction documents are posted in the blue “Report Resources” box on this webpage. Please read all instructions carefully.

The reports are due no later than Tuesday, August 30, 2022.

Questions

If you have additional questions about your cost report filing, please email us at CostReports.Pricing@chiamass.gov with the following information in the subject line of your email:

1. Name of your agency with MassHealth ID #
2. Name of the cost report you are asking about
3. Cost report reporting year

Subject Line Example: Question on FY2021 AFC Cost Report – ABC agency, ID# 123456789A