Blog

CGS “Dark Days”

To accommodate the anticipated duration to install the October 2022 release, the CWF Host will observe a Gray Day on Thursday, September 29th and Dark Days beginning on Friday, September 30th through Sunday, October 2nd.

Click here for complete details from the CGSmedicare.com website.

DDE PPTN Recertification Extension

DDE and PPTN users are required to recertify on an annual basis. Therefore, CGS has extended the previous deadline to September 1, 2022. DON’T DELAY!!! You must submit your recertification form prior to the deadline.

•     Ohio Part A: 1.615.664.5945
•     Ohio Part B: 1.615.664.5927
•     Home Health & Hospice: 1.615.664.5947
•     Kentucky Part A: 1.615.664.5943
•     Kentucky Part B: 1.615.664.5917

Click here for details.

Kentucky Nonprofit Assistance Fund

The Nonprofit Assistance Fund was created to provide one-time assistance payments to eligible nonprofit organizations that experienced net negative revenue between calendar year 2020 and 2021. This assistance is being made from a $75,000,000 appropriation from the State Fiscal Recovery Fund of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. Applications are being accepted August 1, 2022 through October 1, 2022. If you are a nonprofit, please contact our office regarding assistance with the application process.

Click here to view the Eligibility Checklist.

Kentucky Unemployment System Updates

Kentucky Unemployment recently made several updates. All reports must be filed online. Beginning with 2022 tax reports the department will not have the authority or discretion to fix certain issues such as automated excess wage notices of assessment, delinquent report letters, or automated estimates due to no report in database. Automated estimates will become permanent if missing and no response to 20-day notice. If you have questions, contact Melissa Roberts.

Kentucky Disaster Unemployment Assistance

If you have employees who have become unemployed due to the recent flooding disaster they may qualify for assistance. Affected individuals should visit the Kentucky Career Center website, kcc.ky.gov, or call 502-875-0442 to file their initial claim.

Employee Retention Credits (ERC)

Criteria to qualify employers, including tax-exempt organizations, include either:

•     The full or partial suspension of the operation of their trade or business during any calendar quarter because of governmental orders limiting commerce, travel or group meetings due to COVID-19, or
•     A significant decline in gross receipts.

*Many governmental orders affected the healthcare sector and therefore could qualify your organization to receive the employee retention credits.

Our firm can assist you with determining if you qualify, recommend an ERC specialist for you to work with, and assist you with gathering the necessary payroll data. We will verify all previous COVID funding received such as PPP loans, PRF funding and state COVID funding remain intact and are accurately reported to your ERC specialist.

Want to learn more? Please contact Rhonda or Sarah for more information. Call us at (270) 726-4033.

iQIES

CMS has announced they will begin transitioning SNF/LTC providers from the old QIES system to the new iQIES system. A security official will first need to be set up. The security official will then be able to add users, vendor and third-party users. Security Official set up will start August 15, 2022 with Regions 1 & 2. KY is in Region 4 and is scheduled to begin September 12th. CMS plans to have MDS transmissions in iQIES by early 2023. The timeline, training and onboarding guides should be coming soon on the QTSO site.

NHSN IDs

NHSN and CMS has identified an issue with several providers having an extra organizational ID associated with their CCN. This may have occurred when setting up to submit COVID reporting with NHSN. This could cause a provider to receive out of compliance notices. If NHSN or CMS contacts you regarding this, make sure to address and correct.