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Frequently Asked Questions

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.

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Care managers often do not document data elements in the assessment and care plan measures unless the member has "a problem." For example, they may not document that they assessed the member's vision or need for an assistive device if no problem was identified. How can states or plans address this issue?

Managed Long Term Services and Supports (MLTSS) plan managers should provide training on proper documentation practices to care managers and other delegated staff. States and MLTSS plans could consider including data field entry options to remind care managers to record all results of the assessment, even if findings are negative, that is, the member does not have a problem or need assistance or services. For example, states and plans could include a question in the member’s record that requires the care manager to document both whether an assessment was performed and whether a problem was identified, along with another required field to include the details of the problem if there was a problem identified.

FAQ ID:89046

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Must a Managed Long Term Services and Supports (MLTSS) member have a documented care plan to be eligible for the LTSS Shared Care Plan with Primary Care Practitioner (PCP) measure?

Yes, the denominator for this measure includes all MLTSS members with a care plan meeting the criteria outlined in the LTSS Comprehensive Care Plan and Update measure core rate.

FAQ ID:89201

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Who is considered a primary care practitioner (PCP) for the purpose of calculating the LTSS Shared Care Plan with Primary Care Practitioner (PCP) measure?

A PCP is a physician, non-physician (for example, nurse practitioner, physician assistant), or group of providers who offers primary care medical services. However, a care plan can be shared with a medical care practitioner other than the PCP if the practitioner is identified by the member as the primary point of contact for their medical care. Therefore, any medical care practitioner identified by the member as the primary point of contact for their medical care is considered their PCP for the purpose of calculating the measure.

FAQ ID:89206

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Why is the care plan shared just with the primary care practitioner (PCP) or other documented medical care practitioner identified by the Managed Long Term Services and Supports (MLTSS) member?

The care plan is shared with the PCP to promote coordination of medical and LTSS services.

FAQ ID:89211

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What are some acceptable ways to share the care plan with the primary care practitioner (PCP)? What if the Managed Long Term Services and Supports (MLTSS) participant refuses to share it?

The measure specifications allow sharing the care plan by mail, fax, secure email, or mutual access to an electronic portal or Electronic Health Record. Members who refuse to share their care plan are excluded from the measure denominator, but there must be documentation in the record that the member refused to share the care plan (noting verbal refusal suffices). The rate of exclusion due to a member refusing to share their care plan with the PCP should also be reported along with the measure performance rate.

FAQ ID:89216

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Does the full Managed Long Term Services and Supports (MLTSS) care plan need to be shared with the primary care practitioner (PCP) to meet the numerator criteria for the LTSS Shared Care Plan with Primary Care Practitioner (PCP) measure?

No. MLTSS plans are not required to share the full care plan with the PCP or other documented medical care practitioner. MLTSS plans may choose which parts of the care plan are most relevant to the practitioner.

FAQ ID:89221

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Is the provider's signature on the shared Managed Long Term Services and Supports (MLTSS) care plan required?

No, the LTSS Shared Care Plan with Primary Care Practitioner (PCP) measure only looks to see that a care plan was sent to a primary care practitioner (PCP) by the MLTSS plan. No signature from the PCP is necessary to count towards the numerator of this measure.

FAQ ID:89226

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Do plans need to get a release of information from the Managed Long Term Services and Supports (MLTSS) member to share the care plan with the primary care practitioner (PCP)?

There is no need for a release of information. If a member gives the plan the contact information for their PCP, the plan can share information with that PCP. Plans or other providers of LTSS should try to coordinate LTSS services with medical services, even if they are not the primary payer for medical services for the member. Plans that do not know the member’s PCP can/should ask the member to identify their PCP and request their contact information. The measure is intended to determine whether plans tried to connect with the medical care provider. There is an exclusion in this measure for members who refuse to have their care plan shared with the PCP, so if the member refuses, this should be documented, and such members are excluded from the measure rate.

FAQ ID:89231

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Our 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

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Our 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

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