Patient Trust Funds Bond - Statewide in Rhode Island

Brief Summary

If your facility holds personal needs money for Medicaid residents, Rhode Island requires a surety bond that covers every dollar of it, named to the State of Rhode Island. Getting the amount right matters more than anything else on this bond, because the requirement is tied to your residents' actual balances, not a number on a license form.

Rhode Island rule 210-RICR-50-05-2 requires nursing facilities, ICF/IDD facilities and assisted living residences that manage Title XIX residents' personal needs funds to maintain a surety bond under 42 CFR 483.10(f)(10)(vi). The obligee must be the State of Rhode Island, and the bond amount must be greater than all personal funds of the residents at the facility.

We can help with all Rhode Island bonds!

How to Apply for a Patient Trust Funds Bond:

• Total the personal needs funds currently held for all residents, across every account and petty cash.
• Set the bond amount above that total, with room for growth in resident balances.
• Name the State of Rhode Island as obligee, as 210-RICR-50-05-2 requires.
• Use the facility's exact legal name as it appears on its license and Medicaid enrollment.
• Complete the bond application and provide any financial information the surety requests.
• Review resident balances regularly and raise the bond amount if the total approaches the current limit.

Detailed Information About the Rhode Island Patient Trust Funds Bond:

The bond has to be bigger than the money you hold

There is no flat amount for this bond. The Executive Office of Health and Human Services rule says the amount of the surety bond must be greater than all personal funds of the residents at the facility. If resident balances grow, the bond needs to grow with them. A bond sized to last year's balances can leave the facility out of compliance.

The second detail people miss is the obligee. The rule states that the obligee of the surety bond must be the State of Rhode Island. A bond naming the facility, a resident or a family member does not satisfy it.

Who needs it

The rule, Uniform Accountability Procedures for Title XIX Resident Personal Needs Funds, applies to community nursing facilities, ICF/IDD facilities and assisted living residences that receive Medicaid payment and handle residents' personal needs money. It was adopted under RIGL Chapter 40-8, including 40-8-32, and RIGL 23-17.5-15, and it carries out the federal requirement in 42 CFR 483.10(f)(10)(vi) that a facility purchase a surety bond or otherwise provide satisfactory assurance for resident funds deposited with it.

How the funds must be handled

Federal rules do not allow a facility to require residents to deposit their money with it. The facility handles funds only with written authorization, and Rhode Island requires a signed and witnessed document at admission stating who manages the funds. Each resident must receive a written accounting of deposits, withdrawals and balances at least quarterly. When a resident transfers, the funds go with them within ten days. When a resident dies, the facility submits a notarized statement of the money available within ten days.

What the bond protects

The bond guarantees that residents' personal needs money held by the facility is safeguarded and accounted for. If funds are lost, misused or not returned, the State can make a claim against the bond up to its amount.

Eligibility and Requirements for a Rhode Island Patient Trust Funds Bond:

• Bond amount greater than all personal funds of the residents at the facility.
• State of Rhode Island as obligee.
• Signed and witnessed authorization at admission stating who manages each resident's funds.
• Separate accounting for each resident with a written statement at least quarterly.
• Transfer of funds within ten days when a resident moves, and a notarized statement within ten days after a resident's death.

Rhode Island Patient Trust Funds Bond FAQs:

Official and Additional Resources for the Rhode Island Patient Trust Funds Bond: