Frequently Asked Questions are used to provide additional information and/or statutory guidance not found in State Medicaid Director Letters, State Health Official Letters, or CMCS Informational Bulletins. The different sets of FAQs as originally released can be accessed below.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are states required to submit their Upper Payment Limit (UPL) demonstrations directly to the mailbox or should they continue to submit them to the CMS Regional Office?
States are requested to submit their UPL demonstrations to the UPL mailbox at MedicaidUPL@cms.hhs.gov, but should also send a copy of each demonstration to their CMS Regional Office, including the National Institutional Reimbursement Team (NIRT) and Non-Institutional Payment Team (NIPT) staff as appropriate, and addressed to the Associate Regional Administrator. UPL demonstrations should be submitted to meet the annual reporting requirement described in SMDL 13-003, as well as when proposing changes in payment through SPAs.
FAQ ID:92251
SHARE URLOur state uses multiple cost centers (routine and ancillary) in the calculation of our inpatient hospital Upper Payment Limit (UPL). Do the templates permit the use of multiple cost centers?
Yes, the templates allow the use of multiple cost centers. For example, if the state uses a cost methodology for ancillary services and a per-diem methodology for routine services, the state will complete one cost template and one per-diem template in order to account for these two cost centers. Every hospital would be featured in each of the two templates; however, to differentiate their provider information, the state would append the Medicare Certification Number (Medicare ID) (variable 112) with a letter, such as an -A or a -B. For example, if the Medicare ID was 123456, it would be depicted in the cost template as 123456-A and in the per diem template as 123456-B. If a Medicare Certification Number is not available then the state should append the Medicaid Provider Number. If there are multiple cost centers under either the cost or per-diem methodology, the state would separate out the cost centers within their respective templates. Each cost center should be associated with only one appended letter and these should be described in the notes tab. When using multiple cost centers, the state should insert a new tab in the templates that summarizes the UPL gap calculations for each of the ownership categories (state government owned, non-state government owned, and private), unless a summary worksheet is already included in the workbook.
FAQ ID:92261
SHARE URLOur state uses multiple cost centers with varying cost-to-charge ratios in our calculation of the inpatient hospital Upper Payment Limit (UPL). Does the template accommodate this?
Yes, the template allows the use of multiple cost centers with multiple cost-to-charge ratios. The state would separately report the costs and payments associated with each of the cost centers in the cost template. To differentiate the cost centers, the state would append the Medicare Certification Number (Medicare ID) (variable 112) with a letter, for example an -A, -B, or -C, that would be used as a unique identifier for each cost center.
FAQ ID:92266
SHARE URLOur state uses multiple methodologies for the three ownership categories in the calculation of our inpatient hospital Upper Payment Limit (UPL). Do the templates permit the use of multiple methodologies?
Yes, the templates allow the use of multiple methodologies. The state would complete the templates associated with the UPL methodologies used. For example, if the state uses a cost-based methodology for state owned hospitals and a payment-based methodology for private hospitals, then the state would complete the cost template for the state owned hospitals and the payment template for the private hospitals. When using multiple methodologies, the state should insert a new tab in the templates that summarizes the UPL gap calculations for each of the ownership categories (state government owned, non-state government owned, and private), unless a summary worksheet is already included in the workbook.
FAQ ID:92271
SHARE URLHow and when should the Medicaid hospital tax/provider assessment be included in the inpatient hospital template?
The cost of the tax should be reported in Variable 401 - MCD Provider Tax Cost. A state may separately report the Medicaid portion of the cost of a provider assessment/tax only when it is using a cost based methodology to calculate the UPL. A state may not include this cost when calculating a DRG or Payment based UPL demonstration.
FAQ ID:92366
SHARE URLThis table indicates what reports are available to CMS Users. These can be found under the "Reports" tab.
Report Name |
Description |
Available For |
Clock Status Report |
View the regulatory clock statuses |
CPOC, CMS Disapproval Coordinator, SRT Admin CMS Report Admin, |
State Agency Profile Report |
Overview of a State's Medicaid Plan including the prior 12 months' submission package history |
CPOC, CMS Disapproval Coordinator, SRT Admin, CMS Report Admin, CSA, SRT |
Submission Detail Report |
View details on packages by date |
CPOC, CMS Disapproval Coordinator, SRT Admin, CMS Report Admin, SME, PA, PD,SRRVW, SRT |
Submission Statistics Detail Report |
View all Submission Packages currently in review |
CPOC, CMS Disapproval Coordinator, SRT Admin, CMS Report Admin, SME, PA, PD, SRRVW, SRT |
Submission Statistics Summary Report |
View summary of Submission Packages in a specific review status within a specified date range. |
CPOC, CMS Disapproval Coordinator, SRT Admin, CMS Report Admin, SME, PA, PD,SRRVW, SRT |
Submission Summary Report |
Overview of submitted packages by date |
CPOC, CMS Disapproval Coordinator, SRT Admin, CMS Report Admin, SME, PA, PD,SRRVW, SRT |
Staff Workload Report |
View the number of Submission Packages assigned to each CPOC and SRT member, as of the report run date. |
CMS Disapproval Coordinator, SRT Admin, CMS Report Admin, CSA |
FAQ ID:92871
SHARE URLWhat is the Review Tool Report?
The Review Tool Report is a feature CPOCs, SRTs, Senior Reviewers, Package Approvers, Package Disapprovers, and CMS Report Admins can utilize to see Package Reviewable Units, Reviewers, Reviewable Unit Assessment Values, and Notes.
Log in as CMS Point of Contact or Submission Review Team member. Under the "Records" tab, select "Submission Packages". Then select the link to the submission package. In the left panel, select "Review Tool Report". You may sort the reviews of all Review Team members by Package Reviewable Unit, Reviewer, Reviewable Unit Assessment Value, or Note/Assessments by utilizing the drop-down boxes. You also have the ability to export this report to Excel by selecting "Export to Excel."
FAQ ID:92876
SHARE URLWhat is the purpose of each Analyst Note Type?
Analyst Notes are a form of brief internal communication for the CMS Review Team. These notes are a part of the official record; however, State users are not able to see these notes. Analyst Notes are part of the Review Tool for each Reviewable Unit and the SRT or CPOC may view the notes from other Review Team members (depending on the type of note) within the Review Tool, and add his/her own notes.
The CMS Point of Contact or Submission Review Team members may add Analysts Notes through the Review Tool. The types of notes available are referenced in a table below. You will start by logging in as the CMS Point of Contact or Submission Review Team member, then going to the "Records" tab. Under the "Records" tab select "Submission Packages" and then select the link to the package. In the left panel select "Analyst Notes". You will then have the ability to search notes entered by Review Team Members.
Analyst Note Type | Description | Visible By |
Note to self | Private note for self only | Self |
For POC (Formal Review) | Indicates information that should be included in disposition | CPOC |
For Review Team | For other Review Team members | CPOC and SRT |
For RAI | Indicates something that requires RAI | CPOC and SRT |
For Correspondence Log | Indicates information that should be communicated to the SPOC | CPOC and SRT |
Non SRT-User | Note on behalf of a CMS participant outside of the Review Team | CPOC and SRT |
General Note | A note that doesn't fall into another category | All |
Justification | Provides bases for a recommended disposition | POC Admin, CPOC and SRT |
Post-Recommendation | Included by other CMS users during the package disposition review | POC Admin, CPOC and SRT |
FAQ ID:92881
SHARE URLCertain fields within the reviewable units seem misaligned, how do I fix this issue?
If certain fields are misaligned you may need to adjust your compatibility settings. Click the Tools button in the upper right side of your screen, and then click Compatibility View settings. Next click the Add button. The website is added to your Compatibility View and the screen will realign. You can always remove the website by clicking on the website in the list and clicking the Remove button. If an issue persists, please email the MACPro Help Desk at MACPro_HelpDesk@cms.hhs.gov
FAQ ID:92886
SHARE URLHow do I print a Quality Measures report?
- Select "Records" from the navigation panel at the top of the screen.
- Select the appropriate Quality Measure from the Records list.
- Select the specific report to be displayed.
- Once the report is displayed, in the left hand menu, click on "Report Data". This will direct you to the Admin Screen where you can find a list of all core measures.
- Select a core measure. You may then expand each field you would like to print within the Core Measure by scrolling down the page and selecting the +/- button.
- To print, use the browser print function. First navigate to the "File" tab. Select "Page Setup".
- In the "Page Setup" box, set all "Headers"; and all "Footers" to empty using the drop down menus. Please note that this is a one-time step that does not have to be done for subsequent print operations.
- Next, use the browser print function by navigating to the "File" tab and then selecting "Print". You may also use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+P. This will print the core measure data to your printer.
FAQ ID:92946
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