The Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) adopts amendments to §§355.102, §355.105, and §355.108 without changes to the proposed text published in the July 21, 2000, issue of the Texas Register (25 TexReg 6869). The text will not be republished.

Justification of the amendments is to change the cost report training cycle to require training every odd-numbered year, so that training will be required on the cost report that will be used to determine payment rates for the state's biennium. A process will be established for providers filing for bankruptcy to obtain a waiver of the requirement that accrued expenses must be paid within 180 days after the end of the cost reporting period. The references from the Implicit Price Deflator - Personal Consumption Expenditures inflation index will be revised to references to the Personal Consumption Expenditures chain-type price index that was developed as a more accurate overall inflation index. Providers with records outside of the state of Texas will be required to make the necessary records available to auditors within Texas within 15 working days of notification; otherwise, the provider must pay for the actual travel costs of the auditor to conduct the on-site audit out-of state.

No comments were received regarding the proposal.

The amendments are adopted under the Government Code, §531.033, which authorizes the commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission to adopt rules necessary to carry out the commission's duties, and §531.021(b), which establishes the commission as the agency responsible for adopting reasonable rules governing the determination of fees, charges, and rates for medical assistance payments under Chapter 32, Human Resources Code.

The amendments implement the Government Code, §§531.033 and 531.021(b).