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Tags Posts tagged with "Rate Increases"

Rate Increases

The Pennsylvania Office of Vocational Rehabilitation (OVR) is committed to providing quality services to Pennsylvanians with disabilities. Effective partnership with Community Rehabilitation Providers (CRPs) is essential to fulfilling this commitment. Recognizing the unique challenges affecting our CRPs, OVR is modifying service rates for both Supported Employment and Pre-Employment Transition Services as outlined in a memo from OVR Acting Executive Director Ryan Hyde. This change will provide equitable compensation for comparable services funded through both agencies.

ODP Announcement 22-007: UPDATE provides information to providers in order to prepare for upcoming rate increases that are scheduled to be published in the Pennsylvania Bulletin on February 26, 2022.

Per the final public notice for Fee Schedule Rates, Department-established fees, and the AWC FMS Department-established fees rendered through the Consolidated, Community Living (CLW), and Person/Family Directed Support (P/FDS) waivers:

  • The anticipated effective date for the increased Fee Schedule Rates is January 1, 2022; however, the effective date in the Home and Community Services Information System (HCSIS) will be March 1, 2022.
  • The anticipated effective date for the Department-established fees for residential ineligible services is July 1, 2022, and HCSIS will reflect the same effective date.
  • Both the Fee Schedule Rates and Department-established fees for residential ineligible services will be visible in HCSIS on February 28, 2022. Compensation will be for the period January 1, 2022–February 28, 2022. The updated fee schedule rates will not be loaded in ISPs for the period January 1, 2022–February 28, 2022. Instead, the current rate will remain for that period, and ODP will be compensating providers, via gross adjustments, for the difference between the rate billed and the updated fee schedule rate for dates of service rendered during the period January 1, 2022–February 28, 2022. This is intended to eliminate the provider’s effort of voiding and rebilling claims.

ODP anticipates processing gross adjustments during the April to May 2022 timeframe to ensure all billing for dates of service January 1, 2022–February 28, 2022 has been completed. Providers are strongly encouraged to bill in a timely manner to minimize the need for corrections.

Since the new rates will have a begin date of March 1, 2022, two service/rate segments in authorized status will be present on ISPs, assuming no errors set. One service/rate segment will reflect the period July 1, 2021, to February 28, 2022, or the begin date of the service when it was initially authorized on the plan during Fiscal Year (FY) 2021–2022. The second service/rate segment will reflect the period March 1, 2022, to June 30, 2022.

Authorized units on the first service/rate segment, July 1, 2021–February 28, 2022, will reflect 67% of total authorized units for the FY 2021–2022. The second service/rate segment will reflect 33% of total authorized units for the remainder of FY 2021–2022. If an individual requires more than 33% of the total annual authorized units for the remainder of FY 2021–2022, a revision to the plan will be necessary to move units from the first service segment to the second service segment on the ISP. For the period July 1, 2021, to February 28, 2022, providers should bill normally for any services rendered.

See the ODP Announcement for the full instructions.