Failure to Timely Settle and Report Deceased Residents’ Trust Funds and Social Security Payments
Penalty
Summary
The deficiency involves the facility’s failure to provide timely final accountings of resident trust fund balances and to properly handle resident funds after death for four expired residents. For one resident who expired, the ledger showed a balance of $133.40 in the resident trust account that was not reported to the Department of Social Services Third Party Liability Unit (TPL) 143 days after death. The facility continued to receive and hold Social Security deposits and withdraw room and board after this resident expired, including multiple $960.00 Social Security deposits and $910.00 room and board withdrawals, even though room and board for prior months had already been withdrawn. These Social Security deposits were not returned to Social Security more than 100 days after deposit. Another expired resident had $2,731.79 in the resident trust account that was not reported to TPL 91 days after death. The facility continued to receive and hold Social Security funds and withdraw room and board after this resident expired, including a $1,529.00 Social Security deposit labeled as room and board that was not refunded or returned to Social Security 50 days after deposit. For this same resident, review of the trust ledger showed incorrect and duplicated surplus (room and board) withdrawals for several months, with amounts of $1,190.00 and $1,479.00 taken when email correspondence from the Department of Social Services indicated the correct monthly surplus should have been $1,152.00 or $1,151.00, resulting in an additional $2,212.49 that should have remained in the resident trust account but was not reported to TPL. Two other expired residents had smaller trust balances of $55.14 and $50.21, respectively, that were not reported to TPL 146 days and 106 days after death. Email correspondence from the Regional Business Office Manager stated that TPL submissions were made for all four residents but did not provide submission dates or documentation, did not explain why additional room and board was withdrawn after two residents expired, and indicated the facility was waiting for Social Security to request or recoup funds for one resident.
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