The Office of Long-Term Living (OLTL) has outlined its plan to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to strengthen the workforce and assist Adult Day Services (ADS) providers. This plan is in response to the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA), which provides a temporary 10 percent increase to the federal medical assistance percentage (FMAP) for certain Medicaid expenditures for home and community-based services (HCBS). The funding must be used to enhance, expand, or strengthen HCBS.

The OLTL ARPA plan directs $46.5 million to Personal Assistance Service (PAS), Community Integration (CI), and Residential Habilitation (Res Hab) providers to assist with recruitment and retention of direct care workers. The plan directs an additional $13 million to ADS providers to strengthen ADS. To qualify for these payments, providers must have been in operation as of November 1, 2021.

OLTL sent letters to providers with details about the payments, including information about the approved use of and reporting on these funds. For reference, samples of the letters, a list of qualifying entities and payment amounts, and a blank copy of the Provider Attestation Form are available on the DHS Long-Term Care Providers page under the heading “American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Funding.”

To receive a Strengthening the Workforce or Adult Day Services payment, providers must complete the OLTL Provider Attestation form and return via email or fax it to the OLTL Bureau of Finance at (717) 787-2145.  Providers who return completed forms by January 7, 2022, will receive payment in February 2022.

Strengthening the Workforce Payments

• The total available for a one-time payment to PAS, Res Hab, and CI providers is $46,500,000. Of that, $44 million is allocated to PAS and CI, and $2.5 million is allocated to Res Hab. Amounts allocated to providers in each category were based on fee-for-service claims and managed care encounters for services provided between July 1, 2020, and March 30, 2021.
• To calculate each PAS and CI provider’s Strengthening the Workforce payment, OLTL first divided the $44 million allocation by the total number of fee-for-service and managed care PAS and CI units billed between July 1, 2020, and March 30, 2021, to determine a per unit amount. Each provider’s payment was then calculated by multiplying the per unit amount by the provider’s number of fee-for-service and managed care PAS and CI units billed during the same period.
• To calculate each Res Hab provider’s Strengthening the Workforce payment, OLTL first divided the $2.5 million allocation by the total number of fee-for-service and managed care Res Hab units billed between July 1, 2020, and March 30, 2021, to determine a per unit amount. Each provider’s payment was then calculated by multiplying the per unit amount by the provider’s number of fee-for-service and managed care Res Hab units billed during the same period.

Strengthening ADS Payments

• The total funds available for a one-time payment to ADS providers is $13 million. Amounts allocated to ADS providers were based on fee-for-service claims and managed care encounters for services provided between January 1, 2019, and December 31, 2019.
• To calculate each ADS provider’s Strengthening Adult Day Services payment, OLTL first divided the $13 million allocation by the total number of fee-for-service and managed care ADS units billed between January 1, 2019, and December 31, 2019, to determine a per unit amount. Each provider’s payment was then calculated by multiplying the per unit amount by the provider’s number of fee-for-service and managed care ADS units billed during the same period.

Acceptable Uses of ARPA Funding

ARPA funding must be used for things such as sign on bonuses, retention payments, COVID-19 related leave benefits and paid time off, vaccination incentives, or the purchase of personal protective equipment and testing supplies. Additionally, ADS providers can use the funding for retrofitting adult day centers, expenses to re-open the centers, and expenses to develop alternative models to provide ADS.

Questions about this information should be directed to the OLTL Provider Helpline at 800-932-0939.