Virginia Law

A. Effective for dates of service beginning July 1, 2001, through June 30, 2014, nursing facility case-mix indices shall be applied as described in this subsection. Each resident in a Virginia Medicaid certified nursing facility on the last day of the calendar quarter with an effective assessment date during the respective quarter shall be assigned to one of the RUG-III 34 groups.

B. Effective for dates of service on or after July 1, 2014, nursing facility reimbursement described in 12VAC30-90-44 shall be based on the case-mix or RUG weights as described in this subsection. Standard case-mix indices, developed by CMS for the Medicaid population (B01), shall be assigned to each of the RUG-III 34 groups as indicated in Table III.

C. There shall be four "picture dates" for each calendar year: March 31, June 30, September 30 and December 31. Each resident in each Medicaid-certified nursing facility on the picture date with a completed assessment that has an effective assessment date within the quarter shall be assigned a case-mix index based on the resident's most recent assessment for the picture date as available in the DMAS MDS database.

D. Using the individual Medicaid resident case-mix indices, a facility average Medicaid case-mix index shall be calculated four times per year for each facility. The facility average Medicaid case-mix indices shall be used for case-mix neutralization of resident care costs and for case-mix adjustment.

1. During the time period beginning with the implementation of RUG-III up to the ceiling and rate setting effective July 1, 2004, the case-mix index calculations shall be based on assessments for residents for whom Medicaid is the principal payer. The statewide average Medicaid case-mix index shall be a simple average, carried to four decimal places, of all case-mix indices for nursing facility residents in Virginia Medicaid certified nursing facilities for whom Medicaid is the principal payer on the last day of the calendar quarter. The facility average Medicaid case-mix index shall be a simple average, carried to four decimal places, of all case-mix indices for nursing facility residents in the Virginia Medicaid-certified nursing facility for whom Medicaid is the principal payer on the last day of the calendar quarter.

2. The facility average Medicaid case-mix index shall be normalized across all of Virginia's Medicaid-certified nursing facilities for each picture date. To normalize the facility average Medicaid case-mix index, the facility average Medicaid case-mix index is divided by the statewide average Medicaid case-mix index for the same picture date.

3. The department shall monitor the case-mix, including the case-mix normalization and the neutralization processes, indices during the first two years following implementation of the RUG-III system. Effective July 1, 2004, the statewide average case-mix index may be changed to recognize the fact that the costs of all residents are related to the case-mix of all residents. The statewide average case-mix index of all residents, regardless of principal payer on the effective date of the assessment, in a Virginia Medicaid certified nursing facility may be used for case-mix neutralization. The use of the facility average Medicaid case-mix index to adjust the prospective rate would not change.

4. There shall be a correction period for Medicaid-certified nursing facilities to submit correction assessments to the CMS MDS database following each picture date. A report that details the picture date RUG category and CMI score for each resident in each nursing facility shall be mailed to the facility for review. The nursing facility shall have a 30-day time period to submit any correction assessments to the MDS database or to contact the Department of Medical Assistance Services regarding other corrections. Corrections submitted in the 30-day timeframe shall be included in the final report of the CMI scores that shall be used in the calculation of the nursing facility ceilings and rates. Any corrections submitted after the 30-day timeframe shall not be included in the final report of the CMI scores that shall be used in the calculation of the nursing facility ceilings and rates.

5. Assessments that cannot be classified to a RUG-III group due to errors shall be assigned the lowest case-mix index score.

6. Assessments shall not be used for any out-of-state nursing facility provider that is enrolled in the Virginia Medical Assistance Program and is required to submit cost reports to the Medicaid program.