BRAZOS VALLEY COMMUNITY ACTION AGENCY, INC.

Program Name/ALN Title: Health Center Cluster Federal Assistance Listing Number: 93.224/93.527 Federal Identifying Numbers: H80CS00299-22, H80CS00299-23 Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Award Period: 1/1/2024 – 12/31/2024 Type of Finding: Significant Deficiency Over Internal Control and Compliance Criteria: Under the compliance requirement for Special Tests and Provisions for ALN 93.224/93.527, “health centers must prepare and apply a sliding fee discount schedule (SFDS) so that the amounts owed for health center services by eligible patients are adjusted (discounted) based on the patient’s ability to pay”. Condition: In two instances, the sliding fee adjustment was improperly applied to a patient’s account. Context: CLA identified two instances out of twenty-five tested of which the patient received a sliding fee adjustment when they did not meet the …

Corrective action: U. S. Department of Health and Human Services Health Center Program – Assistance Listing No. 93.224/93.527 Recommendation: It is recommended that the Agency provide additional training to staff on the calculation and recording of sliding fee adjustments to ensure sliding fee adjustments are correctly applied to all eligible patients. Explanation of disagreement with audit finding: There is no disagreement with the audit finding. Action taken in response to finding: To address the eligibility compliance issues identified by CLA, the client will implement a corrective action plan centered on enhancing staff training and reinforcing procedural accuracy. All front-line and billing personnel w…

Under the compliance requirement for Special Tests and Provisions for ALN 93.224/93.527, “health centers must prepare and apply a sliding fee discount schedule (SFDS) so that the amounts owed for health center services by eligible patients are adjusted (discounted) based on the patient’s ability to pay”. In one identified instance a sliding fee discount was applied, but no records that prove patients eligibility were kept.

Corrective action: Additional training will be provided to staff regarding the process for verifying patient sliding fee scale status and eligibility to ensure the sliding fee scale documentation and assignment procedures are followed correctly.