Subject of Possible Rule Making: Limiting the amount of time available to vendors and providers in which they can submit bills to the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) for payment.

Statutes Authorizing the Agency to Adopt Rules on this Subject: Chapter 43.88 RCW and RCW 43.17.060.

Reasons Why Rules on this Subject may be Needed and What They Might Accomplish: Many DSHS programs have been accepting invoices for services that were provided more than twelve months before the invoice was submitted. This creates difficulty in building the agency's budget because, in some cases, current budget dollars are being used to pay services that were anticipated in a prior budget, or, in other cases, no authority was set aside as an outstanding liability in a previous budget period to pay these outstanding bills. Some DSHS systems have difficulty in determining how an outdated bill should be paid, so staff are required to perform a significant amount of research in order to ensure a payment is accounted for properly. It also becomes more difficult to ensure a duplicate payment is not made the older an invoice becomes. A rule on this subject would help ensure programs are receiving invoices in a timely manner so that the conditions above would be mitigated. This rule would also have a beneficial effect on the cash flow of our service providers and vendors.

Other Federal and State Agencies that Regulate this Subject and the Process Coordinating the Rule with These Agencies: There are no specific federal or state agencies requiring coordination of rules on this subject.

Process for Developing New Rule: DSHS welcomes the public to take part in developing this rule. Anyone interested in participating should contact the staff person indicated below. You may also participate in a public hearing to be determined later. After the rule is drafted, DSHS will file a copy with the Office of Code Reviser with a notice of proposed rule making, and send a copy to everyone currently on the mailing list and anyone who requests a copy.

Interested parties can participate in the decision to adopt the new rule and formulation of the proposed rule before publication by submitting comments to Jennifer Martinez, Finance Division, P.O. Box 45842, Olympia, WA 98504-5482, phone (360) 664-5711, fax (360) 664-5715, e-mail marte@dshs.wa.gov.

December 12, 2000

Marie Myerchin-Redifer, Manager

Rules and Policies Assistance Unit

© Washington State Code Reviser's Office