Cost Accounting Standards under FAR

Section 911 of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA) establishes Medicare Fee-for-Service (FFS) Contracting Reform (MCR) that will be implemented over the next several years. Under this provision, CMS will replace its current Title XVIII contractors (fiscal intermediaries and carriers) with Medicare Administrative Contractors, or MACs. Contracts with MACs will be subject to the Federal Acquistion Regulation (FAR), which requires the use of cost accounting standards (CAS).

To meet the needs of its current contracting community, CMS hosted a two-day training session on the FAR and CAS on January 26 and January 27, 2005. The following topics were discussed: 

•            Types of Contracts - Provides an overview of the various types of contracts

•            Proposal Presentation, Submission, and Related Supporting Information -
Provides an overview of the requirements for submitting an adequate proposal

•            Accounting and System Financial Capacity - Discusses accounting system reviews and financial capacity

•            Provisional Rates - Provides an overview of the provisional billing rate process

•            Incurred Cost Proposal Submission - Discusses format of submission, elements within the submission (such as direct and indirect costs), and unallowable costs

•            HHSAR Requirements - Provides an overview of the Health & Human Service Regulation (HHSAR) regarding FCCOM and IR&D

•            Preparation of Interim and Final Vouchers - Provides an overview of interim and final vouchers and related documentation

•            Cost Accounting Standards - Provides the history and purpose of CAS, and provides detailed training information on several standards.

•            Disclosure Statement - Provides an overview of the purpose of a disclosure statement, filing process, and discussions of content information included

•            Cost Accounting Changes and Cost Impact Statements - Discusses the impact of cost accounting changes relative to disclosure statements and the resulting cost impact statements

The presentation materials used for this training are available below.