Line Items

Aside from reimbursement claims, line items are the largest and the heaviest piece of the API and the NDBEDP Centralized Database (CD). There are ten line items and a subitem endpoint. Line items relate to reimbursement claims and link to them. For more information, see Reimbursement Claim.

Core Logic

Line items are created before costs (sub items) can be associated to them. Different line items have different required fields that can be found here https://deafblindqaapp.azurewebsites.net/swagger/index.html .

Although the ten line items differ in minor ways, the following fields are used across line items.

• EntityStateId: The entity/state to which this line item is related. This field is used to determine whether you have access. Most endpoints use this field.

• TechnicianId: The technician that worked on this line item.

• ConsumerId: The consumer to which this line item relates. If a record returned doesn't have an entity/state, then there's a good chance the Consumer Id is the second piece that is looked at.

• EquipmentId: Some line items relate to the equipment line item. For example, upgrades can't happen without some equipment being upgraded.

Line items also contain an amount of time and a series of costs. These fields are calculated from the subitems.

Lastly, line items have status history that documents which reimbursements the line item has been a part of and the current status. The line item may or may not be editable depending on where the line item is in the life cycle.

Subitems

Subitems tie the line item piece together by providing an individual endpoint to submit each record. A record includes the entity/state, cost, time, and category.

The category number is based on the results from the subitem/category endpoint. The result will display what line items require which categories and what field on the line item that will be summed up.

For example, an equipment line item can have the following subitems:

Subitem 1: CategoryNumber=151, LineItem = "Equipment", Time = 0, Amount = 12

Subitem 2: CategoryNumber=151, LineItem = "Equipment", Time = 0, Amount = 3

Subitem 3: CategoryNumber=152, LineItem = "Equipment", Time=20, Amount=13.4

Subitem 4: CategoryNumber=153, LineItem = "Equipment", Time=40, Amount=4

The equipment line item to which those subitems are attached will be summed up into their respective field (based on the subitem/category endpoint). The result will look as follows.

Equipment:

SpecializedEquipmentCosts =0,

OtsHardwareCosts=15,

SoftwareApplicationsCosts=13.4,

AccessoriesCosts=4,

AlertDevicesCosts=0,

PartialPaymentCosts=0,

NonNdbedpCosts=0,

OtherCosts=0,

…{and additional data like entity/state id, consumer, date sent, etc…}

In this example,

• category number 151 was summed together into OtsHardwareCosts

• category number 152 was summed to SoftwareApplicationsCosts

• category number 153 was summed to AccessoriesCosts

Time was ignored because equipment doesn’t have a time field, but if it were a line item with a time field, it would be 60 (hours).

Like line items, you can add attachments and notes to subitems. Unlike the other line items, you can add a page number to the record. This is useful if you attach a single attachment to multiple subitems using the Attachment endpoint.

Subitems cannot be directly queried, but they can be pulled down from line items.

Notes

All line items and subitems have the ability to create and view notes. Whether a note is viewable or editable is based on the security of the parent line item. Notes communicate among users within the entity, the Reimbursement Manager, or the FCC Administrator.

Attachments

All line items have the ability to relate attachments. Security checks the parent item when going through the line item attachment endpoints. If an attachment is retrieved through the attachment endpoint, then the entity/state id will be checked instead. The endpoints dictate which type of file is allowed.

Attachments can either be attached via the individual line item attachment endpoint, which will link the two records. Alternatively, attachments can manually be uploaded to the base attachment endpoint, but they will have to be manually linked to the different lines or subitems.

Note that Reimbursement Managers and the FCC Administrators can see all notes and attachments.

Individual Line Item Descriptions

Administrative

Staff time spent on program oversight, interpreters for staff meetings, cost of office supplies, and the percentage of the facilities expenses attributed specifically to the NDBEDP.

Assessment

Costs of Individualized assessments of applicant eligibility and communication needs. This excludes travel costs (see Travel below).

Equipment

Costs of consumer equipment and related items to make telecommunications service, Internet access service, and advanced communications, including interexchange services and advanced telecommunications and information services accessible to eligible low-income individuals who are deaf-blind. Cost of equipment purchased to loan to consumers when their assigned equipment is being repaired, assess consumers’ needs, train users, or to use for outreach demonstrations. This excludes shipping and tax (see Shipping and Tax below).

Installation

Costs of installation of consumer equipment. This excludes travel costs (see Travel below) and shipping and tax (see Shipping and Tax below)

Maintenance Repair

Costs of maintenance and repair of consumer or demo equipment purchased through the program. This excludes travel costs (see Travel below) and shipping and tax (see Shipping and Tax below).

Outreach

Costs associated with state and local outreach and education. This excludes travel costs (see Travel below).

Shipping And Tax

Shipping and tax costs of equipment line items. In cases where shipping and tax cannot be split, use shipping and tax. Otherwise, use the shipping or tax fields, respectively.

Training

Cost of training a consumer to use one or more pieces of equipment. It also includes the costs of Train-the-Trainer. This excludes travel costs (see Travel below).

Travel

Cost of travel for various other line items. Currently, you can attach a travel subitem to the following line items: training, installation, assessment, maintenance/repair, and outreach.