Use of Payment Vouchers - (Rev. 5, 08-30-02)

60 - Use of Payment Vouchers - (Rev. 5, 08-30-02) A1-1408, B1-4408 To obtain Federal funds, the bank prepares a daily payment voucher, Treasury Form FMS-5401, and forwards it to the servicing Federal Reserve Bank or Branch holding the letter-of-credit. When the bank receives the initial letter-of-credit, the bank sequentially numbers payment vouchers drawn beginning with the number one (1). Amendments to the letter- of-credit do not interrupt the sequential numbering of payment vouchers. Payment vouchers are prepared only in an amount equal to the contractor's total checks, bank debit memos, and electronic funds transferred. These vouchers are presented for payment each day less any balance in the benefits account representing collected other deposits or transfers from the Federal Health Insurance Time Account. If the bank is not located in a Federal Reserve Bank (FRB) city, CMS requests the Treasury Department to implement a telephonic method of receiving funds for the bank. The bank calls its FRB and requests a specific funding amount. The FRB prepares the payment voucher and a copy is sent to the bank. The letter-of-credit provides a ceiling on the amount that may be drawn during the month and is purposely set high to meet peak cash needs. In no instance is a payment voucher to be drawn for less than $5,000 or more than $5,000,000 (unless the letter-of-credit has been annotated "Authorized to draw payment vouchers in excess of $5,000,000"). Only one payment voucher should be drawn per day. Regardless of the factors considered in determining when and in what amount to draw payment vouchers, banks are expected to abide by the intent of the letter-of-credit Checks Paid Method of financing system by assuring that the total of the daily voucher processed is the minimum required to finance current disbursements. NOTE: The "Name and Address of Drawer" block on the Treasury Form FMS-5401 must include the name of the bank as it appears on the letter-of-credit sent by CMS and the annotation "agent for" (name of contractor). Due to space limitations, the contractor does not have to show the address in this block. A supply of payment vouchers is provided to each commercial bank. Additional supplies of payment vouchers may be ordered from: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Office of Budget and Administration Distribution Liason Officer 7500 Security Boulevard Baltimore, MD 21244-1850.