| (III) upon the death of the insured, the proceeds are
restricted to paying off the balance of the loan.
(iii) Allowable insurance premiums are limited to premiums
equivalent to that of a decreasing term life insurance policy needed
to pay off the outstanding loan balance or that portion of the premium
which can be equated to the premium for a similar face amount of a
decreasing term life policy. In addition, the loan must be reasonable
and necessary and must meet the criteria for allowable loans and interest
expense as stated in subsection (b)(11) of this section.
(iv) Provider-paid premiums related to insurance on
the lives of owners-employees, officers, and key employees where the
individual's relatives or his estate are the beneficiary are considered
to be employee benefits to the individual and are allowable costs
to the extent such employee benefits are allowable. Provider-paid
premiums related to insurance on the lives of owners-employees, officers,
and key employees where required by a financial institution and the
financial institution is the beneficiary is allowable.
(H) Insurance costs pertaining to unallowable costs.
Insurance costs pertaining to items of unallowable costs are themselves
unallowable costs.
(I) Board of directors' or trustees insurance. Errors
and omissions insurance (liability) on members of boards of directors
or trustees is an allowable cost.
(14) Dues or contributions to organizations.
(A) Allowable dues and contributions to organizations.
Costs are allowable for membership in professional associations directly
and primarily concerned with the provision of services for which the
provider is contracted. Allowable costs of memberships in such organizations
include initiation fees, dues, and subscriptions to related professional
periodicals. Allowable costs related to meetings and conferences whose
primary purpose is to disseminate information for the advancement
of contracted client care or the efficient operation of the contracted
program include reasonable travel costs in accordance with paragraph
(15)(B) of this subsection and reasonable registration fees and other
costs incidental to those functions. Travel costs incurred by members
of the board of directors of professional associations that are directly
and primarily concerned with the provision of services for which the
provider has contracted are allowable in accordance with paragraph
(15)(B) of this subsection. Dues or licensing fees related to maintaining
the professional accreditation or license of an employee are allowable
to the extent that the professional accreditation or license is directly
related to and necessary for the performance of that employee's functions.
(B) Unallowable dues and contributions to organizations.
Dues to nonprofessional organizations are unallowable. Assessments
whose purpose is to fund lawsuits or any legal action against the
state or federal government are unallowable. Portions of dues based
on revenue or for the purposes of lobbying, or campaign contributions
are unallowable costs. Costs of membership in civic organizations
whose primary purpose is the promotion and implementation of civic
objectives are unallowable. Dues or contributions made to any type
of political, social, fraternal, or charitable organization are unallowable.
Chamber of Commerce dues are unallowable. Franchise fees are not considered
dues or contributions to organizations.
(C) Dues to purchasing organizations or buying clubs.
Allowable dues to purchasing organizations or buying clubs are limited
to the pro-rata amount representing purchases made for use in providing
contracted services.
(15) Training and travel costs.
(A) Staff training costs.
(i) Staff training costs refer to costs associated
with educational activities for provider staff. To qualify as an allowable
staff training cost, the training must:
(I) have a direct relationship with the employee's
job responsibilities, thereby increasing the quality of contracted
client care or the efficient operation of the contracted provider.
Management training, if it is designed to enhance quality or improve
administration and is relevant to the contracted service, is an allowable
cost. The following apply to staff training costs.
(-a-) Non-related party staff. Costs of tuition, books,
and related fees for courses required to complete the designated degree
or certification are allowable. The degree or certification must be
necessary to the provision of contracted client services of the contracted
provider. An example would be any course required to be taken by a
licensed vocational nurse (LVN) working toward a degree as a registered
nurse (RN) where RN services are necessary to deliver services as
required under the contract.
(-b-) Related party staff. Allowable costs are restricted
to specific courses which have a direct relationship with the employee's
job responsibilities. Examples of allowable staff training costs include
tuition, books, and related fees for an accounting course for a bookkeeper
and a management course for a supervisor. However, a history course
for a bookkeeper, even though it may be a requirement for a college
degree in accounting or business, is unallowable.
(II) be located within the state of Texas unless the
purpose of the training is for staff training in contracted client
care-related services or quality assurance which is not available
in the state of Texas. All costs for training outside the continental
United States are unallowable costs. For further guidelines regarding
adequate documentation, refer to §355.105(b)(2)(B)(vi) of this
title.
(ii) Staff training may be conducted within the provider
setting or off-site. It may be operated by the contracted provider,
provided by an accredited academic or technical institution, or conducted
by a recognized professional organization for the particular training
activity. Workshops on particular contracted client services, health
applications, on-the-job safety, data processing, accounting, the
Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) programmatic or
cost related training, supervisory techniques, and other administrative
activities are examples of allowable types of training. Costs of orientation,
on-the-job training, and in-service training are recognized as normal
operating costs and are allowable training costs.
(iii) For staff training conducted within the provider
setting, allowable training costs include, but are not limited to,
instructor and consultant fees, training supplies, and visual aids.
For off-site training, allowable costs include costs such as allowable
travel costs, registration fees, seminar supplies, and classroom costs.
For additional guidelines regarding allowable travel costs, please
refer to subparagraph (B) of this paragraph.
(iv) Staff training costs must be reported as net costs,
having been offset by any reimbursement from grants, tuitions, or
donations received for staff educational purposes.
(v) For information regarding nursing facility nurse
aide training, refer to paragraph (20)(K) of this subsection and program-specific
reimbursement methodology rules.
(vi) For guidelines on allowability for client prevocational,
vocational, and educational costs, refer to program-specific reimbursement
methodology rules for guidelines on allowability.
(B) Travel costs.
(i) Maximum allowable travel costs for allowable activities
are as follows:
(I) 150% of the limits established by the Texas Legislature
for non-exempt state employees, with respect to hotel costs and per
diem rates; and
(II) the maximum allowable mileage reimbursement amount
set by the Texas Legislature for non-exempt state employees.
(ii) Out-of-state travel costs are unallowable, unless
the purpose of the travel is for staff training in contracted client-care-related
services or in quality assurance which is not available in the state
of Texas; the purpose of delivering direct contracted client services
within 25 miles of the Texas border with adjoining states or Mexico;
or the purpose for the travel is to conduct business related to contracted
client services in Texas and the travel is between Texas and the contracted
provider's central office. All costs for travel outside the continental
United States are unallowable costs, with the singular exception of
travel required for the delivery of direct contracted client services
within 25 miles of the Texas-Mexico border.
(iii) Expenses for private aircraft are allowable only
if:
(I) written documentation supporting the calculations
for expenses for private aircraft and commercial alternatives, and
flight logs are maintained as specified in §355.105(b)(2)(B)(iii)
of this title; and
(II) the documentation demonstrates that the expenses
for travel via private aircraft were not greater than those for commercial
alternatives at the time the travel took place. If the expenses for
private aircraft were greater than the documented costs for commercial
alternatives at the time the travel took place, allowable private
aircraft costs are limited to the documented costs Cont'd... |
