Financial reporting requirements

1. Records. a. The facility shall maintain on the premises census records and financial information sufficient to provide for a proper audit or review. For any cost being claimed on the cost report, sufficient data must be available as of the audit date to fully support the report item. b. If several facilities are associated with a group and their accounting and reports are centrally prepared, added information must be submitted for those items known to be lacking support at the reporting facility prior to the audit or review of the facility. Accounting or financial information regarding a related organization must be readily available to substantiate cost. c. Each facility shall maintain, until any rate based upon a cost report is final and not subject to any appeal, but in any event, for a period of not less than five years following the date of submission of the cost report to the state agency, accurate financial and statistical records of the period covered by the cost report in sufficient detail to substantiate the cost data reported. Each facility shall make the records available upon reasonable demand to representatives of the department. 2. Accounting and reporting requirements. a. The accrual basis of accounting, in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, must be used for cost reporting purposes. Ratesetting procedures must prevail if conflicts occur between ratesetting procedures and generally accepted accounting principles. A facility may maintain its accounting records on a cash basis during the year, but adjustments must be made to reflect proper accrual accounting procedures at yearend and when subsequently reported. b. To properly facilitate auditing, the accounting system must be maintained in a manner that allows cost accounts to be grouped by cost category and readily traceable to the cost report. c. The cost report must be submitted on or before October first. The report must contain all actual costs of the facility, adjustments for nonallowable costs, and resident days. d. The department may impose a nonrefundable penalty of ten percent of any amount claimed for services furnished after the due date if the facility fails to file the cost report on or before the due date. The penalty may be imposed on the first day of the fourth month following the facility's fiscal yearend and continues to the end of the month in which the statement or report is received. e. Upon request, the following information must be made available: (1) A statement of ownership including the name, address, and proportion of ownership of each owner; (2) Copies of leases, purchase agreements, appraisals, financing arrangements, and other documents related to the lease or purchase of the facility or a certification that the content of those documents remains unchanged since the most recent statement given pursuant to this subsection; (3) Supplemental information reconciling the costs on the financial statements with costs on the cost report; or (4) Copies of leases, purchase agreements, and other documents related to the acquisition of equipment, goods, and services claimed as allowable costs. f. The facility shall make all adjustments and allocations necessary to arrive at allowable costs. The department may reject any cost report when the information filed is incomplete or inaccurate. If a cost report is rejected, the department may impose the penalties described in subdivision d. g. The department may grant one thirty-day extension of the reporting deadline to a facility. To receive an extension, a facility must submit a written request to the department's medical services division. h. If a facility fails to file the required cost report on or before the due date, the department may reduce the current payment rate to eighty percent of the facility's most recently established rate. Reinstatement of the rate must occur on the first of the month beginning after receipt of the required information, but is not retroactive. 3. The department shall perform an audit of the latest available report year of each facility at least once every six years and retain for at least three years all audit-related documents, including cost reports, working papers, and internal reports on rate calculations used and generated by audit staff in the performance of audits and in the establishment of rates. Audits must meet generally accepted governmental auditing standards. 4. A false report is one where a facility knowingly supplies inaccurate or false information in a required report which results in an overpayment. If a false report is received, the department may: a. Immediately adjust the facility's payment rate to recover the entire overpayment within the rate year; b. Terminate the department's agreement with the facility; c. Prosecute under applicable state or federal law; or d. Use any combination of the foregoing actions. 5. The department may determine a report is a false report if a facility claims previously adjusted costs as allowable costs. Previously adjusted costs being appealed must be identified as nonallowable costs. The facility may indicate that the costs are under appeal and not claimed under protest to perfect a claim should the appeal be successful.