The IRS has listed information on the
American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act of 2009
Click
the link above for a summary on how it may effect you.
Go to www.irs.gov for more
information
Updated
2008 W2 Information
*ALERT*
ACES$ is NOT affiliated with ANY union or
labor organization
It has been brought to our attention that persons not
affiliated with ACES$ have been visiting Personal Support Workers in their
home, claiming to be working with ACES$ consumers and workers.
ACES$ does not and will not release personal
information without the written authorization from your employer AND the
Illinois Department of Human Services.
ACES$ staff do not make unannounced visits. Any visit
from an ACES$ staff person will be scheduled via phone in advance.
If you have been visited by individuals such as these,
we would like to know.
Please contact us via one of the below options.
Phone Toll Free – 1-877-223-7724
Phone Direct Line – 1-570-207-7772
Facsimile – 1-570-558-5571
E-Mail – Info@acessfea.org
Thank You
To Download the Alert Click the Link
Below
Alert
on Union Visiting
Personal
Support Workers
Participant Budget Information
Click Below
Participant Monthly
Budget
Account
Information
What if you receive an e-mail
claiming to be from the IRS?
• The IRS does not initiate contact with taxpayers via
e-mail.
The IRS does not request detailed personal
information
through e-mail correspondence.
• Forward the bogus e-mail claiming to be from the IRS
to
Phishing@irs.gov. Go to www.irs.gov
(keyword phishing) to
get instructions on how to forward the e-mail
message.
• Do not open attachments or click on the links found within
the bogus e-mail.
ACES$ Personal Support Worker
W-2 Replacement Policy and
Request Form
Click Below to
Download
ACES$
Personal Support Worker
W2
Replacement Policy
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Click the Picture Above to Download the
2 Page
Enrollment Brochure in PDF Form
NORTHEAST PENNSYLVANIA CENTER
FOR INDEPENDENT LIVING (DBA) ACES$ is dedicated to advancing the
rights of persons with disabilities in order to promote a full life in the
community through the prevention and elimination of physical,
psychological, social and attitudinal barriers which serve to deny them
the rights and privileges common to the general public. The essence of the
Independent Living movement and its concepts are being proven daily by
more and more people with severe disabilities as they choose to resume the
responsibilities of directing their own lives by becoming active,
contributing participants in the mainstream of their
communities. The mission of NORTHEAST PENNSYLVANIA CENTER FOR INDEPENDENT
LIVING, (DBA) ACES$ is to help people determine their own individual lifestyle,
based on personal choice, from a wide spectrum of acceptable alternatives.
The staff draws upon their own experiences of living with a disability, as
well as professional training. Services are not limited by type of
disability or age. Our services are for any person with a disability,
service providers, and/or individuals interested in disability related
issues.
Types of
Consumer Directed Compensation Models
What Is A Fiscal/Employer Agent
(F/EA)?
There are two Fiscal/Employer Agent models
that operate under section 3504 of the IRS Code, the Government
Fiscal/Employer Agent and the Vendor Fiscal/Employer Agent.
Both models work well as the neutral site or
“bank” for individuals’ budget funds allowing funds to follow the
individual program participant rather than the agency-based provider. Both
F/EA models provide individuals and their representatives with a high
level of choice and control over directing the use of their individual
budget funds and managing their support services while providing fiscal
accountability for state programs and reducing some of the fiscal burden
for participants and their representatives. Both F/EA models are
considered qualified Medicaid waiver services but not qualified State Plan
services without a Medicaid 1115 waiver. In general, F/EAs should not be
direct care providers because of the conflict of interest of being both
the bank or public funds manager and a direct service provider.
Government
Fiscal/Employer Agent
(In accordance with IRS Revenue Procedures
80- 4 and 2003-70)
Under the Government
Fiscal/Employer Agent (F/EA) model, a state or local government
entity may apply for and receive approval from the IRS (under Section 3504
of the IRS Code and IRS Revenue Procedure 80-4 and Proposed Notice
2003-70) to be an employer agent on behalf of individuals
for the limited purpose of withholding, filing and depositing federal
employment taxes (e.g., FICA and FUTA) and income tax withholding for
workers they hire directly. It also may:
<
Invoice a state for
individuals’ budget funds,
< Act as a “bank for individuals’ budget funds
and disburse and
track these
funds,
< Manage federal advanced earned income credits
as necessary,
< Withhold, file and deposit state income (if
required) and
employment taxes (e.g., SUTA
and disability, if applicable),
< Collect, verify and process workers’
timesheets,
< Prepare and distribute payroll checks to
support workers hired by
individuals,
and
< Process and pay non-labor related invoices as
approved in the
individual’s
budget.
A Government F/EA also may broker
worker’s compensation and other insurance, conduct criminal background
checks on prospective support workers, assist in verifying support
workers’ citizenship/legal alien status and generate standardized reports
for state/county agencies and individuals, as required.
The Government Fiscal/Employer Agent model
provides participants with a high level of choice and control over their
individual budget funds and services while ensuring state programs fiscal
accountability and reducing some of the fiscal burden for participants and
their representatives (e.g., payroll and bill payment).
Government F/EAs can perform the “bank,”
employer and bill payment functions on behalf of participants (as their
agent) without being considered the common law employer of participants’
support workers.
A
Vendor Fiscal/Employer Agent
Vendor Fiscal/Employer Agent (in
accordance with IRS Revenue Procedure 70-6). Under the Vendor
Fiscal/Employer Agent (F/EA) model, a private or public vendor entity
or authority may apply for and be approved by the IRS (under IRS Rev.
Proc. 70-6) to act as an employer agent on behalf of individuals
and perform similar tasks as a Government F/EA described
earlier.
The Vendor F/EA model is the most popular ISO
option used by states. NEPA CIL (DBA) ACES$ chooses to operate as a Vendor F/EA model
because it provides individuals with a high level of choice and control
while ensuring state programs fiscal accountability and reducing some of
the fiscal burden for participants and their representatives (e.g.,
payroll and bill payment). Vendor F/EA can perform the “bank,”
payroll and bill payment functions for participants without being
considered the common law employer of their support workers.
Historically, the Vendor F/EA model facilitated states being
able to meet CMS’ requirement for freedom of provider and the receipt of
program match for F/EA costs for the purpose of the Federal Medicaid
match.
The predominant role of ISOs is to enable program
participants or their representatives to participate in consumer-directed
support service programs. Some types of ISOs (Government and Vendor IRS
Employer Agent-Fiscal ISOs) assist program participants and/or their
representatives in performing employer-related tasks (e.g., computing,
withholding, filing and depositing payroll taxes, processing payroll
checks, arranging for employee benefits (e.g., workers compensation
coverage). Some ISOs also verify legal immigration status and conduct
criminal background checks on candidates for employment without being the
legal employer of the worker and without the program participant receiving
Medicaid benefits directly. Under these Fiscal ISO models the program
participant or his/her representative is the legal employer of his/her
support service worker.
An IRS Employer Agent-Fiscal
ISO may be a governmental or
private (profit/non-profit) organization. The Internal Revenue Service
distinguishes between governmental (IRS Rev. Proc. 80-4) and
non-governmental (IRS Rev. Proc. 70-6) employer agents by prescribing
specific procedures for each type to use in filing payroll taxes. Only 6%
of the consumer-directed HCB support services programs examined used the
government-based IRS Employer Agent or Third Party Payer approach.
Forty-five percent (45%) of consumer-directed HCB support services
programs examined used the Vendor IRS Employer Agent (e.g., Fiscal ISO)
approach. A majority (70%) of Vendor "Employer Agent" ISOs are non-profit
organizations.
A minority of consumer-directed HCB support
services programs (12%) examined use the ISO model referred to as the
"Fiscal Conduit" ISO. This Fiscal ISO model coordinates the
disbursing of program funds directly to adults/elders with disabilities or
to family caregivers. The programs are primarily funded with state-only
revenues. Many of the programs that use a Fiscal Conduit ISO are designed
to offset care-related expenses incurred by family caregivers. The only
Medicaid programs using the Fiscal Conduit ISO model are those with 1115
research and demonstration waivers to test this approach.
Agency with Choice ISOs act as the legal employer of
participant-hired workers while delegating authority to participants
and/or their representatives for hiring/firing, training, and supervising
the day-to-day activities of their support service workers. Twenty-one
percent (21%) of consumer-directed HCB support services programs examined
use the "Agency with Choice" ISO model. This ISO model is particularly
effective in providing significant choice and control for individuals with
cognitive impairments whose representative may not be willing or able to
be the legal employer of the support service workers they
recruit.
A minority (13%) of consumer-directed HCB
support services programs examined use the "Supportive" ISO model.
Supportive ISOs tend to be special-purpose organizations or private
individuals, often with case management experience, whose primary role is
to provide a variety of supportive services to program beneficiaries
and/or their representatives (e.g., skills and advocacy training,
counseling, maintaining worker registries and monitoring service quality
and program participants' satisfaction with their support
services).
It should be noted that ISO models are not
necessarily mutually exclusive. Some programs use more than one type of
ISO (e.g., a Vendor Fiscal ISO and a Supportive ISO). In some cases
the ISOs used by a consumer-directed support service program may meet the
criteria for more than one ISO model (e.g., combined Fiscal and Supportive
ISO or, in some cases, Support Brokerage). Also, information about ISO
models used was not available for some programs.
ACES$ Fiscal Employer Agent (F/EA) Quality
Improvement Team:
Director, Public Policy
& Initiatives ~ Tina Seidel,
CPP
Controller ~ Kelly Cole, CPP
Director of Financial Operations ~ Duane Seidel, MBA,
CPP
The Director, Public Policy & Initiatives has 14 years
of experience in F/EA, the Controller has 5 years of
experience, and
the Director of Financial Operations has 5 years
for an aggregate combined total of over 24 years of experience. All are Certified Payroll
Professionals with the American Payroll Association and must take annual
Continuing Education Units to retain the certification.