HFS News & Information

CMS published the Preliminary Public Use File (PUF) for the FY 2015 wage index and occupational mix on 9/13/2013. This file reflects the Worksheet S-3, Parts II and III wage data from cost reports for Fiscal Year (FY) 2011 (FY Beginning from 10/1/10 to 9/30/2011). Hospitals will have until November 21, 2013 to request revisions to the wage data posted in the September PUF.

The following files have been created and can be downloaded and used with the Wage Index Verification Tool for Federal Fiscal Year 2015:

For cost reports filed on the Form 2552-10: 5-3-2014 Hospital WI PUF HFS modified CSV 2552-10

The May 2013 public use files were made available solely for the purpose of identifying any potential errors made by CMS or the fiscal intermediary/MAC in the entry of the final wage index data.

The following files have been created and can be downloaded and used with the Wage Index Verification Tool for Federal Fiscal Year 2015:

For cost reports filed on the Form 2552-96: Hospital FFY 2014 WI PUF HFS modified CSV 2552-96
For cost reports filed on the Form 2552-10: Hospital FFY 2014 WI PUF HFS modified CSV 2552-10

The American Taxpayer Relief Act passed on January 1, 2013 included Medicare provisions that will impact some hospitals for cost reporting periods ending after September 30, 2012.  Section 605 of the Act extends the current Low Volume Payment adjustment through September 30, 2013. The temporary improvements to the Low Volume Payment Adjustment established by ACA Sections 3125 and 10314 were set to expire for services rendered on or after October 1, 2012.  ACA of 2010,

In addition Section 606 of the Act, extended the Medicare Dependent Hospital (MDH) program for services through September 30, 2013.  The MDH program was set to expire for services on or after September 30, 2012.

Both of these provisions will require changes to the 2552-10 cost reporting instructions and we will incorporate these changes into the software when we receive revised instructions from CMS.  If you have any questions, feel free to contact me at eric@hfssoft.com.

We will hold our Provider User Meeting in Orlando on October 17-18.  It will be two full days.  The meeting will be held at Disney’s Coronado Resort.    We’ve set up a site with information, registration and the hotel reservation info and link.  This link is also under our Events tab on our website (HFSSOFT.com).

2012 HFS Provider User Meeting 

This meeting will be for Hospitals, SNF’s and HHA’s.  Other provider types are welcome to attend but we will not have industry specific speakers for other provider types.  The fee for the meeting is $500, we will offer 16 CPE credits and the hotel rate is $129 per night.  We hope you can attend.  We are confirming speakers and topics and will keep updating our agenda on the event website.  We really enjoy seeing our users at this meeting and consistently receive comments that we put on a good meeting with great up to date information.  We are going to make this one our best yet.

We are pleased to announce that Eric Swanson has joined our team at Health Financial Systems.  Many of you know Eric from his previous employment at Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, where he served as the Managing Director for the Strategic Government Initiatives Department.  He has over 30 years of experience in Medicare Part A and was an established expert within the Blue Cross organization, as well as a technical expert to CMS and the provider community.  Eric successfully managed the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association Medicare operations including PRRB Appeals, Medicare Cost Report development, and Audit and Reimbursement Policy functions.

He is a Graduate of the University of Illinois and earned his MBA from the Lake Forest Graduate School of Management.

Eric has been a featured speaker at HFS user meetings since 1995. He will work out of the Chicago area and contribute in our support department and Government Relations.  Eric will add another dimension of expertise to the HFS team and he looks forward to working with all of our provider and MAC clients.

Eric can be reached by email at Eric@hfssoft.com or by phone (312)265-8386.

CMS approved our new ESRD 265-11 Medicare cost report software on January 30, 2011. We will release the full version of the software on February 3, 2012. You can download the full version of the software from the download page on our website. You can use the new software to prepare and electronically file your cost report(s). Any cost report file(s) you created with the beta version will work with the new full version of the 265-11 software.

Please note the new file extension for the 265-11 cost report data files is .mcrx. You will be able to open both 265-94 and 264-11 cost report using the yellow icon HFS software. Both the 265-11 and 265-94 systems are installed in the same folder and both start with the same yellow HFS icon-shortcut.

The use template option is not yet operational. We will get the template feature up and running as soon as possible, but currently you will only be able to open a blank, new 265-11 cost report.

Effective Dates (January 1, 2011 and after)
Form CMS-265-11 must be completed by all independent end stage renal dialysis (ESRD) facilities that are not hospital-based for cost reporting periods ending on or after January 1, 2011.

Extended Filing Deadlines for 265-11 Cost Reports
CMS recently extended the filing deadline for ESRD 265-11 cost reports. The following table contains the new cost report due dates.

CMS announced that short period and terminating hospitals qualifying for the HIT payment will be granted extensions on a case by case basis for cost reporting periods beginning on or after October 1, 2010 and subsequent and file on the 2552-10.

Short period and terminating hospitals not qualifying for the HIT payment will file and settle on the 2552-96 with no extensions granted for cost reporting periods beginning on or after October 1, 2010 and on or before April 30, 2011.

by Chuck Briggs

On July 27, 2011 HFS received a memorandum from CMS regarding filing deadlines for SNFs. The following is a summary of the details we received.

The 2540-10 is effective for cost reporting periods beginning on or after 12/01/2010. For any short period cost reports beginning on or after 12/01/2010 and ending 11/30/2011, providers will continue to file on the form CMS-2540-96. No extensions are proposed at this time.

by Chuck Briggs

On July 27, 2011 HFS received written confirmation from CMS that the deadlines to file on the new 2552-10 form set will be extended. The following is a summary of the details we received.

CMS issued a 30-day extension for 4/30/2011 FYE providers (Joint Signature Memo/Technical Direction Letter – 11204, 03-03-11).

All providers with full 12 months or greater cost reporting periods which begin on or after May 1, 2010 (and end on or after April 30, 2011) must file on the 2552-10 form set, subject to the following extension schedule. (We published this same schedule in our previous 2552-10 news post, and publish it again for your convenience. There were no changes.)

2552-10 Extended Cost Report Filing Dates

Short period cost reports:
– Providers with cost report periods beginning on or after May 1, 2010, but ending prior to April 30, 2011, must file and settle on 2552-96. These cost reports are due the latter of 30 days from the date of the forthcoming TDL or 5 months following the close of the cost reporting period. This includes hospitals with hospital based end stage renal disease (ESRD) facilities and/or departments.
– Hospital based ESRDs are subject to the same extension schedule as indicated above. Hospital based ESRDs should submit their cost reports using the current 2552-10, with the existing Worksheet I series. The Hospital based ESRDs claiming bad debts may not be settled until a revised 2552-10 Worksheet I series is published incorporating the new bad debt calculation.

by Chuck Briggs