Assistance Listing, Federal Agency, and Program Name 93.498, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), COVID-19: Provider Relief Fund (PRF) and American Rescue Plan (ARP) Rural Distribution
Federal Award Identification Number and Year N/A
Pass through Entity N/A Direct funded
Finding Type Material weakness and material noncompliance with laws and regulations
Repeat Finding No
Criteria Per the Phase 2 General Distribution Relief Fund Payment Terms and Conditions, recipients shall maintain appropriate records and cost documentation, as outlined in the terms and conditions of the funding received. The terms and conditions require that the funding recipient retain proper documentation for the expenses submitted within the HRSA portal.
Condition The Organization’s lacked effective controls to ensure documentation for expenses reported within the Organization’s period 2 portal submission were retained. The Organization was able to produce documentation for total expenses of $7,516,920, while the Organization had reporting to HRSA that it had incurred $8,509,978 of expenses. As a result, the Organization was unable to provide support for $993,058 of the total expenses reported.
Questioned Costs $993,058
Identification of How Questioned Costs Were Computed Questioned costs were computed by taking total expenses reported per the Organization’s period 2 portal submission of $8,509,978, as compared to the total expenses the Organization could support, per internal documentation, which totaled $7,516,920.
Context The single audit for the Organization included expenses reported during the first quarter of calendar year 2020 through the fourth quarter of calendar year 2021 related to funding received in Period 2. As a result of the funding received, the Organization was required to attest to the applicable expenses incurred, which are defined by HHS. The Organization was not able to reproduce listings that agreed to the total expenses reported in the period 2 portal submission. In particular, support for various allocations made reflecting qualified expenses were not retained. Due to this, the Organization reported $993,058.38 of expenses in the Organization’s Period 2 portal submission for which the Organization could not support.
Cause and Effect Appropriate review and retention of support for expense allocations made, which validated portions of the total expenses reported in the Organization’s portal submissions, was not complete to ensure the reports followed required retention guidelines. As a result, the Organization was not able to provide support for expenses reported in it's period 2 portal submission.
Recommendation We recommended that the Organization implement controls, including levels of review and document retention, to ensure that reports are completed and submitted in accordance with the guidelines established by HHS.
Views of Responsible Officials and Corrective Action Plan The Organization will review its processes surrounding the retention of documentation used to report expenses and will implement additional levels of review to ensure that the proper documentation is retained for future reporting period portal submissions.
Assistance Listing, Federal Agency, and Program Name 93.498, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), COVID-19: Provider Relief Fund (PRF) and American Rescue Plan (ARP) Rural Distribution
Federal Award Identification Number and Year N/A
Pass through Entity N/A Direct funded
Finding Type Material weakness and material noncompliance with laws and regulations
Repeat Finding No
Criteria Per the Provider Relief Fund General and Targeted Distribution Post-Payment Notice of Reporting Requirements dated April 7, 2023, recipients must meet compliance with reporting requirements, as outlined in the terms and conditions of the funding received. The terms and conditions require that the funding recipient report accurate expense totals to support the funding received.
Condition The Organization’s controls in place for reporting submissions did not identify that the General and Targeted Distribution Post-Payment Notice of Reporting Requirements guidelines were not followed related to expense amounts reported in the Organization’s period 2 portal submissions.
Questioned Costs $15,062
Identification of How Questioned Costs Were Computed Amounts were obtained by taking the difference between the actual expense totals per vendor invoices as compared to amounts included in client's calculation of allowable costs.
Context The single audit for the Organization included expenses reported during the first quarter of calendar year 2020 through the fourth quarter of calendar year 2021 related to funding received in Period 2. As a result of the funding received, the Organization was required to attest to the applicable expenses incurred, which are defined by HHS. Upon review, it was identified that a clerical error was made in the calculation of certain expenses reported by the Organization. Due to this, the Organization reported expenses in excess of the expenses incurred in the Organization’s Period 2 portal submission.
Cause and Effect Appropriate review of the expenses reported was not completed to ensure the expenses reported were accurate. As a result, the Organization reported incorrect expense totals for the period 2 portal submission.
Recommendation We recommended that the Organization implement controls, including levels of review, to ensure that reported expenses comply with the guidelines established by HHS.
Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions The Organization will review its processes surrounding the quantification of expenses reported and will implement additional levels of review to ensure that the expense amounts are validated for future reporting periods.
Assistance Listing, Federal Agency, and Program Name 93.498, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), COVID-19: Provider Relief Fund (PRF) and American Rescue Plan (ARP) Rural Distribution
Federal Award Identification Number and Year N/A
Pass through Entity N/A Direct funded
Finding Type Material weakness and material noncompliance with laws and regulations
Repeat Finding No
Criteria Per the Phase 2 General Distribution Relief Fund Payment Terms and Conditions, recipients shall maintain appropriate records and cost documentation, as outlined in the terms and conditions of the funding received. The terms and conditions require that the funding recipient retain proper documentation for the expenses submitted within the HRSA portal.
Condition The Organization’s lacked effective controls to ensure documentation for expenses reported within the Organization’s period 2 portal submission were retained. The Organization was able to produce documentation for total expenses of $7,516,920, while the Organization had reporting to HRSA that it had incurred $8,509,978 of expenses. As a result, the Organization was unable to provide support for $993,058 of the total expenses reported.
Questioned Costs $993,058
Identification of How Questioned Costs Were Computed Questioned costs were computed by taking total expenses reported per the Organization’s period 2 portal submission of $8,509,978, as compared to the total expenses the Organization could support, per internal documentation, which totaled $7,516,920.
Context The single audit for the Organization included expenses reported during the first quarter of calendar year 2020 through the fourth quarter of calendar year 2021 related to funding received in Period 2. As a result of the funding received, the Organization was required to attest to the applicable expenses incurred, which are defined by HHS. The Organization was not able to reproduce listings that agreed to the total expenses reported in the period 2 portal submission. In particular, support for various allocations made reflecting qualified expenses were not retained. Due to this, the Organization reported $993,058.38 of expenses in the Organization’s Period 2 portal submission for which the Organization could not support.
Cause and Effect Appropriate review and retention of support for expense allocations made, which validated portions of the total expenses reported in the Organization’s portal submissions, was not complete to ensure the reports followed required retention guidelines. As a result, the Organization was not able to provide support for expenses reported in it's period 2 portal submission.
Recommendation We recommended that the Organization implement controls, including levels of review and document retention, to ensure that reports are completed and submitted in accordance with the guidelines established by HHS.
Views of Responsible Officials and Corrective Action Plan The Organization will review its processes surrounding the retention of documentation used to report expenses and will implement additional levels of review to ensure that the proper documentation is retained for future reporting period portal submissions.
Assistance Listing, Federal Agency, and Program Name 93.498, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), COVID-19: Provider Relief Fund (PRF) and American Rescue Plan (ARP) Rural Distribution
Federal Award Identification Number and Year N/A
Pass through Entity N/A Direct funded
Finding Type Material weakness and material noncompliance with laws and regulations
Repeat Finding No
Criteria Per the Provider Relief Fund General and Targeted Distribution Post-Payment Notice of Reporting Requirements dated April 7, 2023, recipients must meet compliance with reporting requirements, as outlined in the terms and conditions of the funding received. The terms and conditions require that the funding recipient report accurate expense totals to support the funding received.
Condition The Organization’s controls in place for reporting submissions did not identify that the General and Targeted Distribution Post-Payment Notice of Reporting Requirements guidelines were not followed related to expense amounts reported in the Organization’s period 2 portal submissions.
Questioned Costs $15,062
Identification of How Questioned Costs Were Computed Amounts were obtained by taking the difference between the actual expense totals per vendor invoices as compared to amounts included in client's calculation of allowable costs.
Context The single audit for the Organization included expenses reported during the first quarter of calendar year 2020 through the fourth quarter of calendar year 2021 related to funding received in Period 2. As a result of the funding received, the Organization was required to attest to the applicable expenses incurred, which are defined by HHS. Upon review, it was identified that a clerical error was made in the calculation of certain expenses reported by the Organization. Due to this, the Organization reported expenses in excess of the expenses incurred in the Organization’s Period 2 portal submission.
Cause and Effect Appropriate review of the expenses reported was not completed to ensure the expenses reported were accurate. As a result, the Organization reported incorrect expense totals for the period 2 portal submission.
Recommendation We recommended that the Organization implement controls, including levels of review, to ensure that reported expenses comply with the guidelines established by HHS.
Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions The Organization will review its processes surrounding the quantification of expenses reported and will implement additional levels of review to ensure that the expense amounts are validated for future reporting periods.