Amicus Brief on Use of Work Papers and Reserve Calculations in Cost Reports

HFMA filed a "friend of the court" brief filed August 31, 1999, with the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Tampa Division. The U.S. Department of Justice and a qui tam relator have asserted that a cost report submitted without all workpapers and reserve cost report information is incomplete and therefore false. In amicus the brief, HFMA stated that this assertion is technically inaccurate.

HFMA took no position on the case itself, but sought to ensure that the court based its decision on technically accurate information. The brief gives an overview of cost reporting and financial accounting practices, including creating reserves, the relationship between those reserves and the filed cost report, and how that information is used by healthcare finance professionals and regulators.