Deadline Alert: Civil Rights Compliance Plan Due

Posted on Feb 15, 2018 by

Last month we notified many health care providers who receive Medicaid funds about an upcoming compliance deadline, but we wanted to share more information in case you missed our email or if you would like to spread the word.

Recipients of federal funds passed through Wisconsin Department of Children and Families (“DCF”), Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development (“DWD”), and/or Wisconsin Department of Health Services (“DHS”) must comply with Federal civil rights laws and meet the Civil Rights Compliance (“CRC”) Requirements. Such recipients include health care providers who have payment arrangements with DHS for Medicaid reimbursement. The CRC Requirements for each recipient are dependent upon the amount of federal funds received and the recipient’s number of employees. There are two components of the CRC Requirements:

(1) Civil Rights Compliance Letter of Assurance (“CRC LOA”) and Appendices A, B, and C. 

ALL entities, including health care providers, regardless of their size, receiving federal funds that are passed through DHS, DWD, or DCF are required to submit a Letter of Assurance and the required Appendices A, B, and C to the appropriate state agency within 15 working days of the effective date of the contract, grant, or other agreement to provide federal funds, unless otherwise specified in the contract or other agreement.  For those entities whose contracts renewed on January 1, which is the majority of you, your deadline was Tuesday, January 23, 2018.

(2) Civil Rights Compliance Plan (“CRC Plan”). 

Only entities, including health care providers, who have 50 or more employees and receive an aggregate of more than $50,000 in Federal funds that are passed through DHS, DWD, or DCF over the course of the compliance period must complete a CRC Plan within 60 working days of the effective date of the contract. For those entities whose contracts renewed on January 1, which is the majority of you, your deadline is Friday, March 2, 2018.

Letter of Assurance and Appendices A, B, and C

DHS, DWD, and DCF require that all entities submit a CRC LOA and required Appendices A, B, and C to the appropriate state agency by Tuesday, January 23, 2018 (or within 15 working days of the effective date of the contract). Although the deadline has passed, it’s not too late to comply if you missed it. The CRC Letter of Assurance is submitted for a multi-year period, and the current period is January 1, 2018 through December 31, 2021.

Health care providers that receive Medicaid reimbursements from DHS should submit the CRC LOA and Appendices A, B, and C to DHS at [email protected] if you have not already done so. For entities receiving funds from DCF or DWD, you must submit the CRC LOA and Appendices A, B, and C to [email protected] or [email protected], respectively.

Examples of the CRC LOA and Appendices A, B, and C can be found on pages 18-19 and 48-53 of this document.

Federal civil rights laws require state agencies to ensure their recipients are in compliance with those laws. The state agencies reserve the right to enforce the CRC Letter of Assurance, which could include terminating the agreement with the recipient to provide Federal programs and activities through DHS, DWD, and DCF.

CRC Plan

Entities, including health care providers, who have 50 or more employees and receive an aggregate of $50,000 in federal funds passed through DHS, DWD, or DCF over the course of the compliance period must complete a CRC Plan by March 2, 2018 (or within 60 working days of the effective date of the contract). Recipients must use the template on pages 27 to 47 of this document. McCarty Law’s health care attorneys will be hosting a workshop for anyone who would like assistance completing their CRC Plan. More information about the workshop can be found below.

Subrecipients

Additionally, each recipient who contracts with or otherwise pays a subrecipient to administer the federally funded program or activity is responsible to ensure that its subrecipient complies with these CRC Requirements by doing the following:

  • Incorporate by reference the CRC Requirement into their contracts, grants, or other agreements.
  • Require subrecipients to submit a Letter of Assurance to the recipient or to the appropriate state agency by Tuesday, January 23, 2018. The recipient must be able to produce all subrecipient CRC Letters of Assurance to the appropriate state agency upon request.
  • Ensure subrecipients complete a CRC Plan, if applicable. Subrecipients must produce the CRC Plan upon request by the recipient or by the appropriate state agency.
  • Monitor compliance of subrecipients with civil rights laws.
  • Investigate complaints made by applicants, participants, and customers against subrecipients.
  • Use CRC training tools and pursue CRC technical assistance.
  • Recipients may impose additional policies and procedures on their subrecipients to ensure compliance with civil rights requirements, as long as the additional policies and procedures do not conflict with these CRC Requirements, Federal, and/or state civil rights discrimination laws and regulations.

Recipients and Subrecipients must also display and publish the applicable nondiscrimination statements, depending on the Federal agency that funds the program or activity. Examples of this can be found in Appendix D on page 54.

CRC Workshop

If you missed the January 23 deadline, don’t panic. It’s not too late to send your CRC LOA and appendices. As for those of you who are required to complete a CRC Plan by March 2, 2018, please give us a call if you would like assistance completing your plan.

We will be holding a workshop on Thursday, February 22, 2018, and Friday, February 23, 2018, from 9:30 am–11:30 am, where we will provide you step-by-step guidance in completing the plan.  The workshop is open to anyone and will cost $275 per person if paid in advance and $325 per person at the door.

 



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Lindsey Croasdale

Health Law and Business & Corporate Law Attorney at McCarty Law LLP
Lindsey focuses her practice on regulatory compliance and corporate transactions in health care as she assists her clients in understanding and navigating health care policies.