The Department of Health Services (DHS) is reminding providers to submit their 2023 cost reports and corresponding documentation by the appropriate deadline. For providers with a fiscal year coinciding with the end of the calendar year, this deadline will be April 30, 2024.

Instructions for providers

Providers should ensure that they follow the Methods of Implementation for Nursing Home Payment Rates for state fiscal year 2024 (SFY24) on the ForwardHealth website when submitting their cost reports.

Submit cost reports via WINHRS

Providers must use the WINHRS (Wisconsin Nursing Home Rate Setting) web-based system for submitting cost reports and all other corresponding documentation.

Include required documentation

In addition to the completed cost report (Excel workbook), providers must include:

• Signed desk review checklist attestation (see s. 9.00 of the Methods of Implementation)
• Completed desk review checklist (see s. 10.00 of the Methods of Implementation)
• Depreciation schedule documentation which meets the following:
  • Removed assets that DHS auditors disallowed in prior years from both the schedule and supporting documentation.
  • Adjustment to any useful lives to comply with the American Hospital Association (AHA) guidelines that the DHS auditors adjusted in prior years.
  • Ensuring all new assets are recorded following the AHA guidelines for useful lives.
  • The depreciation schedule is submitted as an Excel file.
  • Make additional entries to the prior cost report year’s audit adjustment workbook to reflect asset additions/deletions in the current cost reporting period and submit the workbook as documentation for the current cost reporting period.

If any of the above items are not included with the provider’s cost report submission, the submission will be considered incomplete. Cost reports that are late or incomplete will be audited after cost reports that have been submitted complete and on time.

Overdue cost reports

Cost reports must be submitted within four months following the end of the provider’s cost-reporting period. They are considered overdue, if they are not submitted by that deadline. Receipt of cost report submissions will not be acknowledged if the submission is incomplete according to the instructions (see section above).

Please note: Overdue cost reports will be subject to a per-month rate reduction of 25% or more as outlined in s. 1.30 of the Methods of Implementation. This rate reduction will be temporary, and rates will be retroactively restored to their full amount once the complete cost report is submitted.

Please contact Kate Dickson with any questions.