Home office costs

1. Home offices of chain organizations vary greatly in size, number of locations, staff, mode of operations, and services furnished to member facilities. Although the home office of a chain is normally not a provider in itself, it may furnish central administration or other services including centralized accounting, purchasing, personnel, or management services. To the extent the home office furnishes services related to resident care to a facility, the reasonable resident-related costs, not to exceed actual costs of the services, are includable in the facility's cost report and are includable as part of the facility's rate. 2. Where the home office makes a loan to or borrows money from one of the components of a chain organization, the interest paid is not an allowable cost and interest income is not used to offset interest expense. 3. Home office costs incurred for expansion of a chain organization must be directly allocated to the appropriate component of the chain. The costs of abandoned plans are not allowable. 4. Central or home office costs representing services of consultants required by law in areas for social services, nursing, therapies, or activities and central, affiliated, or corporate office costs representing services of consultants not required by law in the areas of resident care may be allocated to the appropriate cost category of a facility according to subdivisions a through e. a. Only the salaries and employment benefits associated with the individual performing the service may be allocated. No other costs may be allocated. b. The allocation must be based on direct identification and only to the extent justified in time distribution records that show the actual time spent by the consultant performing the services in the facility. c. The cost in subdivision a for each consultant may not be allocated to more than one cost category in the facility. If more than one facility is served by a consultant, all facilities shall allocate the consultant's cost to the same operating category. d. Top management personnel may not be considered consultants. e. An allocation may not be made unless the consultant's full-time responsibilities are to provide the services identified in this section.