Source: http://txrules.elaws.us/rule/353.1302
Timestamp: 2020-06-01 22:14:22
Document Index: 121696470

Matched Legal Cases: ['ART 15', '§353', '§353', '§355', '§353', '§353', '§353', '§353', '§353', '§353', '§19', '§19', '§19', '§353', '§353', '§353']

SECTION 353.1302. Quality Incentive Payment Program for Nursing Facilities on or after September 1, 2019, SUBCHAPTER O. DELIVERY SYSTEM AND PROVIDER PAYMENT INITIATIVES, CHAPTER 353. MEDICAID MANAGED CARE, PART 15. TEXAS HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES COMMISSION, TITLE 1. ADMINISTRATION, Texas Administrative Code
SECTION 353.1302. Quality Incentive Payment Program for Nursing Facilities on or after September 1, 2019
(a) Introduction. This section establishes the Quality Incentive Payment Program (QIPP) for nursing facilities (NFs) providing services under Medicaid managed care on or after September 1, 2019. QIPP is designed to incentivize NFs to improve quality and innovation in the provision of NF services to Medicaid recipients through the use of metrics that are expected to advance at least one of the goals and objectives of the state's quality strategy.
<?Pub Caret -2> (b) Definitions. The following definitions apply when the terms are used in this section. Terms that are used in this and other sections of this subchapter may be defined in §353.1301 (relating to General Provisions) or §353.1304 (relating to Quality Metrics for the Quality Incentive Payment Program for Nursing Facilities on or after September 1, 2019) of this subchapter.
(1) CHOW application--An application filed with HHSC for a NF change of ownership (CHOW).
(2) Eligibility period--A period of time for which an eligible and enrolled NF may receive the QIPP amounts described in this section. Each QIPP eligibility period is equal to a state fiscal year (FY) beginning September 1 and ending August 31 of the following year.
(3) Network nursing facility--A NF located in the state of Texas that has a contract with an MCO for the delivery of Medicaid covered benefits to the MCO's enrollees.
(4) Non-state government-owned NF--A network nursing facility where a non-state governmental entity located in the state of Texas holds the license and is a party to the NF's Medicaid provider enrollment agreement with the state.
(5) Private NF--A network nursing facility not owned by a governmental entity located in the state of Texas, and holds a license.
(6) Regional Healthcare Partnership (RHP)--A collaboration of interested participants that work collectively to develop and submit to the state a regional plan for health care delivery system reform as defined and established under Chapter 354, Subchapter D, of this title (relating to Texas Healthcare Transformation and Quality Improvement Program).
(c) Eligibility for participation in QIPP. A NF is eligible to participate in QIPP if it complies with the requirements described in this subsection.
(1) The NF is a non-state government-owned NF.
(A) The non-state governmental entity that owns the NF must certify the following facts on a form prescribed by HHSC.
(i) That it is a non-state government-owned NF where a non-state governmental entity holds the license and is party to the facility's Medicaid contract; and
(ii) That all funds transferred to HHSC via an intergovernmental transfer (IGT) for use as the state share of payments are public funds.
(B) The NF must be located in the state of Texas in the same RHP as, or within 150 miles of, the non-state governmental entity taking ownership of the facility, be owned by the non-state governmental entity for no less than four years prior to the first day of the eligibility period, or must be able to certify in connection with the enrollment application that they can demonstrate an active partnership between the NF and the non-state governmental entity that owns the NF. The following criteria demonstrate an active partnership between the NF and the non-state governmental entity that owns the NF.
(i) Monthly meetings (in-person or virtual) with NF administrative staff to review the NF's clinical and quality operations and identify areas for improvement. Meetings should include patient observations; regulatory findings; review of CASPER reports, quality measures, grievances, staffing, risk, incidents, accidents, and infection control measures; root cause analysis, if applicable; and design of performance improvement plans.
(ii) Quarterly joint trainings on topics and trends in nursing home care best practices or on needed areas of improvement.
(iii) Annual, on-site inspections of the NF by a non-state governmental entity-sponsored Quality Assurance team.
(2) The NF is a private NF. The NF must have a percentage of Medicaid NF days of service that is greater than or equal to 65 percent. For each private NF, the percentage of Medicaid NF days is calculated by summing the NF's Medicaid NF fee-for-service and managed care days of service, including dual-eligible demonstration days of service, and dividing that sum by the facility's total days of service in all licensed beds. Medicaid hospice days of service are included in the denominator but excluded from the numerator.
(A) The days of service will be annualized based on the NF's latest cost report or accountability report but from a year in which HHSC required the submission of cost reports.
(B) HHSC will exclude any calendar days that the NF was closed due to a natural or man-made disaster. In such cases, HHSC will annualize the days of service based on calendar days when the NF was open.
(d) Data sources for historical units of service. Historical units of service are used to determine an individual private NF's QIPP eligibility status and the distribution of QIPP funds across eligible and enrolled NFs.
(1) All data sources referred to in this subsection are subject to validation using HHSC auditing processes or procedures as described under §355.106 of this title (relating to Basic Objectives and Criteria for Audit and Desk Review of Cost Reports).
(2) Data sources for the determination of each private NF's QIPP eligibility status are listed in priority order below. For each eligibility period, the data source must be from a cost-reporting year and must align with the NF's fiscal year.
(A) The most recently available Medicaid NF cost report for the private NF. If no Medicaid NF cost report is available, the data source in subparagraph (B) of this paragraph must be used.
(B) The most recently available Medicaid Direct Care Staff Rate Staffing and Compensation Report for the private NF. If no Medicaid Direct Care Staff Rate Staffing and Compensation Report is available, the data source in subparagraph (C) of this paragraph must be used.
(C) The most recently available Medicaid NF cost report for a prior owner of the private NF. If no Medicaid NF cost report for a prior owner of the private NF is available, the data source in subparagraph (D) of this paragraph must be used.
(D) The most recently available Medicaid Direct Care Staff Rate Staffing and Compensation Report for a prior owner of the private NF. If no Medicaid Direct Care Staff Rate Staffing and Compensation Report for a prior owner of the private NF is available, the private NF is not eligible for participation in QIPP.
(3) Data sources for determination of distribution of QIPP funds across eligible and enrolled NFs are listed in priority order below. For each eligibility period, the data source must be from a cost-reporting year and must align with the NF's fiscal year.
(A) The most recently available Medicaid NF cost report for the NF. If the cost report covers less than a full year, reported values are annualized to represent a full year. If no Medicaid NF cost report is available, the data source in subparagraph (B) of this paragraph must be used.
(B) The most recently available Medicaid Direct Care Staff Rate Staffing and Compensation Report for the NF. If the Staffing and Compensation Report covers less than a full year, reported values are annualized to represent a full year. If no Staffing and Compensation Report is available, the data source in subparagraph (C) of this paragraph must be used.
(C) The most recently available Medicaid NF cost report for a prior owner of the NF. If the cost report covers less than a full year, reported values are annualized to represent a full year. If no Medicaid NF cost report for a prior owner of the NF is available, the data source in subparagraph (D) of this paragraph must be used.
(D) The most recently available Medicaid Direct Care Staff Rate Staffing and Compensation Report for a prior owner of the NF. If the Staffing and Compensation Report covers less than a full year, reported values are annualized to represent a full year.
(e) Participation requirements. As a condition of participation, all NFs participating in QIPP must allow for the following.
(1) HHSC must be able to access data for the NF from one of the data sources listed in subsection (d) of this section.
(2) The NF must submit a properly completed enrollment application by the due date determined by HHSC. The enrollment period must be no less than 30 calendar days, and the final date of the enrollment period will be at least nine days prior to the IGT notification.
(3) The entity that owns the NF must certify, on a form prescribed by HHSC, that no part of any payment made under the QIPP will be used to pay a contingent fee, consulting fee, or legal fee associated with the NF's receipt of QIPP funds and the certification must be received by HHSC with the enrollment application described in paragraph (2) of this subsection.
(4) The entity that owns the NF must submit to HHSC, upon demand, copies of contracts it has with third parties that reference the administration of, or payments from, QIPP.
(f) Non-federal share of QIPP payments. The non-federal share of all QIPP payments is funded through IGTs from sponsoring non-state governmental entities. No state general revenue is available to support QIPP.
(1) HHSC will share suggested IGT responsibilities for the eligibility period with all QIPP eligible and enrolled non-state government-owned NFs at least 15 days prior to the IGT declaration of intent deadline. Suggested IGT responsibilities will be based on the maximum dollars to be available under the QIPP program for the eligibility period as determined by HHSC, plus eight percent; forecast STAR+PLUS NF member months for the eligibility period as determined by HHSC; and the distribution of historical Medicaid days of service across non-state government-owned NFs enrolled in QIPP for the eligibility period. HHSC will also share estimated maximum revenues each eligible and enrolled NF could earn under QIPP for the eligibility period with those estimates based on HHSC's suggested IGT responsibilities and an assumption that all enrolled NFs will meet 100 percent of their quality metrics. The purpose of sharing this information is to provide non-state government-owned NFs with information they can use to determine the amount of IGT they wish to transfer.
(2) Sponsoring governmental entities will determine the amount of IGT they wish to transfer to HHSC for the entire eligibility period and provide a declaration of intent to HHSC 15 business days before the first half of the IGT amount is transferred to HHSC.
(A) The declaration of intent is a form prescribed by HHSC that includes the total amount of IGT the sponsoring governmental entity wishes to transfer to HHSC and whether the sponsoring governmental entity intends to accept Component One payments.
(B) The declaration of intent is certified to the best knowledge and belief of a person legally authorized to sign for the sponsoring governmental entity but does not bind the sponsoring governmental entity to transfer IGT.
(3) Sponsoring governmental entities will transfer the first half of the IGT amount by a date determined by HHSC. The second half of the IGT amount will be transferred by a date determined by HHSC. The IGT deadlines and all associated dates will be published on the HHSC QIPP webpage by January 15 of each year.
(4) Reconciliation. HHSC will reconcile the amount of the non-federal funds actually expended under this section during each eligibility period with the amount of funds transferred to HHSC by the sponsoring governmental entities for that same period using the methodology described in §353.1301(g) of this subchapter.
(g) QIPP capitation rate components. QIPP funds will be paid to MCOs through four components of the STAR+PLUS NF managed care per member per month (PMPM) capitation rates. The MCOs' distribution of QIPP funds to the enrolled NFs will be based on each NF's performance related to the quality metrics as described in §353.1304 of this subchapter. The NF must have had at least one Medicaid client in the care of that NF for each reporting period to be eligible for payments.
(1) Component One.
(A) The total value of Component One will be equal to 110 percent of the non-federal share of the QIPP.
(B) Interim allocation of funds across qualifying non-state government-owned NFs will be proportional, based upon historical Medicaid days of NF service.
(C) Monthly payments to non-state government-owned NFs will be triggered by achievement of performance requirements as described in §353.1304 of this subchapter.
(D) Private NFs are not eligible for payments from Component One.
(E) The interim allocation of funds across qualifying non-state government-owned NFs will be reconciled to the actual distribution of Medicaid NF days of service across these NFs during the eligibility period as captured by HHSC's Medicaid contractors for fee-for-service and managed care 180 days after the last day of the eligibility period. This reconciliation will only be performed if the weighted average (weighted by Medicaid NF days of service during the eligibility period) of the absolute values of percentage changes between each NFs proportion of historical Medicaid days of NF service and actual Medicaid days of NF service is greater than 18 percent.
(2) Component Two.
(A) The total value of Component Two will be equal to 30 percent of remaining QIPP funds after accounting for the funding of Component One and Component Four.
(B) Allocation of funds across qualifying non-state government-owned and private NFs will be proportional, based upon historical Medicaid days of NF service.
(C) Monthly payments to NFs will be triggered by achievement of performance requirements as described in §353.1304 of this subchapter.
(3) Component Three.
(A) The total value of Component Three will be equal to 70 percent of remaining QIPP funds after accounting for the funding of Component One and Component Four.
(C) Quarterly payments to NFs will be triggered by achievement of performance requirements as described in §353.1304 of this subchapter.
(4) Component Four.
(A) The total value of Component Four will be equal to 16 percent of the funds of the QIPP.
(B) Allocation of funds across qualifying non-state government-owned NFs will be proportional, based upon historical Medicaid days of NF service.
(C) Quarterly payments to non-state government-owned NFs will be triggered by achievement of performance requirements as described in §353.1304 of this subchapter.
(D) Private NFs are not eligible for payments from Component Four.
(5) Funds that are non-disbursed due to failure of one or more NFs to meet performance requirements will be distributed across all QIPP NFs based on each NF's proportion of total earned QIPP funds from Components One, Two, Three, and Four combined.
(h) Distribution of QIPP payments.
(1) Prior to the beginning of the eligibility period, HHSC will calculate the portion of each PMPM associated with each QIPP-enrolled NF broken down by QIPP capitation rate component, quality metric, and payment period. For example, for a NF, HHSC will calculate the portion of each PMPM associated with that NF that would be paid from the MCO to the NF as follows.
(A) Monthly payments from Component One as performance requirements are met will be equal to the total value of Component One for the NF divided by twelve.
(B) Monthly payments from Component Two associated with each quality metric will be equal to the total value of Component Two associated with the quality metric divided by twelve.
(C) Quarterly payments from Component Three associated with each quality metric will be equal to the total value of Component Three associated with the quality metric divided by four.
(D) Quarterly payments from Component Four associated with each quality metric will be equal to the total value of Component Four associated with the quality metric divided by four.
(E) For purposes of the calculations described in subparagraphs (B), (C), and (D) of this paragraph, each quality metric will be allocated an equal portion of the total dollars included in the component.
(F) In situations where a NF does not have enough data for a quality metric to be calculated, the funding associated with that metric will be evenly distributed across all remaining metrics within the component.
(2) MCOs will distribute payments to enrolled NFs as they meet their reporting and quality metric requirements. Payments will be equal to the portion of the QIPP PMPM associated with the achievement for the time period in question multiplied by the number of member months for which the MCO received the QIPP PMPM. In the event of a CHOW, the MCO will distribute the payment to the owner of the NF at the time of the payment.
(i) Changes of ownership.
(1) A NF undergoing a CHOW from privately owned to non-state government owned or from non-state government owned to privately-owned will only be eligible to enroll as the new class of facility if HHSC received a completed CHOW application no later than 30 days prior to the first day of the enrollment period. All required documents pertaining to the CHOW (i.e., HHSC must have a complete application for a change of ownership license as described under 40 TAC §19.201 (relating to Criteria for Licensing), 40 TAC §19.210 (relating to Change of Ownership and Notice of Changes), and 40 TAC §19.2308 (relating to Change of Ownership)) must be submitted in the timeframe required by HHSC.
(2) If an enrolled NF changes ownership, including to a new class of facility during the pendency of the application or during the eligibility period, the NF under the new ownership must meet the eligibility requirements described in this section for the new owner's facility class in order to continue QIPP participation during the eligibility period.
(3) An enrolled NF must notify the MCOs it has contracts with of a potential CHOW at least 30 days before the anticipated date of the CHOW. An enrolled NF must also notify the HHSC Rate Analysis Department by hand delivery, United States (U.S.) mail, or special mail delivery at least 30 days before the anticipated date of the CHOW. Notification is considered to have occurred when HHSC receives the notice.
(j) Changes in operation. If an enrolled NF closes voluntarily or ceases to provide NF services in its facility, the NF must notify the HHSC Rate Analysis Department by hand delivery, United States (U.S.) mail, or special mail delivery within 10 business days of closing or ceasing to provide NF services. Notification is considered to have occurred when HHSC receives the notice.
(k) Recoupment. Payments under this section may be subject to recoupment as described in §353.1301(j) and §353.1301(k) of this subchapter.
Source Note: The provisions of this §353.1302 adopted to be effective December 30, 2018, 43 TexReg 8079