Claim Calculations and Recalculations in the CACFP

810 First Street, N.E., Washington, DC 20002 – 3rd Floor Grand Hall, Side A

Claims for Reimbursement

Claims for Reimbursement

How do CACFP payments work?

A. You’re paid a set amount in advance for the coming month.

B. You’re reimbursed a set amount for last month.

C. You’re reimbursed for the meals that you served last month.

D. You’re reimbursed for your actual costs last month.

Claims for Reimbursement

How do CACFP payments work?

A. You’re paid a set amount in advance for the coming month.

B. You’re reimbursed a set amount for last month.

C. You’re reimbursed for the meals that you served last month.

D. You’re reimbursed for your actual costs last month.

Claims for Reimbursement

What factors affect the amount of your claim payments?

1. The federal meal reimbursement rates

2. The reimbursement rate eligibility classifications (free / reduced-price / paid) for all participants

3. The number of meals served, by type (breakfast, snack, or lunch/supper)

Claims for Reimbursement

When do the reimbursement rates change?

A. January 1

B. July 1

C. October 1

D. Whenever Congress raises them

Claims for Reimbursement

When do the reimbursement rates change?

A. January 1

B. July 1

C. October 1

D. Whenever Congress raises them

Claims for Reimbursement

Why do the free / reduced-price / paid numbers matter?

The Blended Rate

 BREAKFAST

Free $1.58

Reduced $1.28

Paid $0.28

LUNCH / SUPPER

Free $2.93

Reduced $2.53

Paid $0.28

A.M. / P.M. SNACK

Free $0.80

Reduced $0.40

Paid $0.07

Claims for Reimbursement

The Blended Rate

Claim Payment Calculations

See “Reimbursement Calculator” Excel Spreadsheet

Claim Reimbursement Calculator

• Programmed with the basic federal reimbursement rates

• Mirrors the fields of the Claim for Reimbursement

• Shows your institution’s unique blended reimbursement rate for each meal type for the month

• Gives you an estimate of your monthly claim based on the reported free / reduced-price / paid numbers and number of meals served

Claim Reimbursement Calculator

• Play around with the calculator to see how the blended rate works– The percentage of participants in each

eligibility category, not the raw number, affects the blended rate• A higher percentage of participants in the “free”

category makes the blended rate closer to the “free” reimbursement rate for each meal type

– The number of each meal type served does directly affect the value of your claim payment

Claim Reimbursement Calculator

• The free / reduced-price / paid numbers do not affect the cash-in-lieu of commodity reimbursement rate• The cash-in-lieu of commodity reimbursement rate is

added to your blended rate for lunches and suppers

– All at-risk meals are reimbursed at the free reimbursement rate

See “Claim Calculation-Recalculation Example” Excel Spreadsheet

Claim Recalculation Spreadsheet

• Sent with review letters any time findings lead to fiscal action / claim recalculations

• Shows the data originally reported on the claim for each month and the value of that claim

• Shows the revised data, as determined by the State Agency, and the revised value of the claim

Claim Recalculation Spreadsheet

• State Agency focuses on the records and data for a “test month” during a review– Meals are typically only disallowed for the test

month

• Any IES classification errors are corrected for the entire fiscal year (going back to the month the child enrolled or was first claimed, or October -- whichever is later) – IES errors quickly add up over time

Reasons for Recalculations

• IES was misclassified • IES was correct but claimed incorrectly*• Incorrect number of participants reported in

the free/reduced-price/paid section*• Incorrect meal count totaling• Discrepancies between attendance and meal

counts (more meals claimed than people present)

• Meals/menus did not meet meal pattern

*Usually due to errors on the MEL