(a) Captioning with only automatic speech recognition technology. For the period from November 1, 2024, through June 30, 2029, TRS Fund compensation for the provision of Internet Protocol Captioned Telephone Service when captioning is produced using only automatic speech recognition technology (ASR-only IP CTS) shall be as described in this paragraph (a).

(1) Initial rate. For the period from November 1, 2024, through June 30, 2025, the Compensation Level for ASR-only IP CTS shall be $1.17 per minute.

(2) Second year rate. For the period from July 1, 2025, through June 30, 2026, the Compensation Level for ASR-only IP CTS shall be $1.05 per minute.

(3) Rates for subsequent years. For the period from July 1, 2026, through June 30, 2029, the Compensation Level for ASR-only IP CTS shall be $0.95 per minute.

(b) Captioning with communications assistants. For the period from November 1, 2024, through June 30, 2029, TRS Fund compensation for the provision of internet Protocol Captioned Telephone Service when captioning is produced with communications assistants (CA-assisted IP CTS) shall be as described in this paragraph (b).

(1) Initial rate. For the period from November 1, 2024, through June 30, 2025, the Compensation Level for CA-assisted IP CTS shall be $1.35 per minute.

(2) Succeeding years. For each succeeding TRS Fund Year through June 30, 2029, the per-minute CA-assisted Compensation Level shall be determined in accordance with the following equation:

Equation 1 to Paragraph (b)(2) LFY = LFY-1*(1+AFFY) Where LFY is the CA-assisted Compensation Level for the new Fund Year, LFY-1 is the CA-assisted Compensation Level for the previous Fund Year, and AFFY is the Adjustment Factor for the new Fund Year.

(3) Adjustment Factor. The Adjustment Factor for a Fund Year (AFFY), to be determined annually on or before June 30, is equal to the difference between the Initial Value and the Final Value, as defined in paragraphs (b)(3)(i) and (ii) of this section, divided by the Initial Value. The Initial Value and Final Value, respectively, are the values of the Employment Cost Index compiled by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, for total compensation for private industry workers in professional, scientific, and technical services, for the following periods:

(i) Final Value. The fourth quarter of the Calendar Year ending 6 months before the beginning of the Fund Year; and

(ii) Initial Value. The fourth quarter of the preceding Calendar Year.

(c) Supplemental Compensation for CA-assisted IP CTS. For the period from November 1, 2024, through June 30, 2029, Supplemental Compensation for CA-assisted IP CTS may be paid in accordance with this paragraph (c) to any of the following four IP CTS providers currently certified to provide CA-assisted IP CTS: CaptionCall, ClearCaptions, Hamilton, InnoCaption (Certified Providers).

(1) Initial rate. For the period from November 1, 2024, through June 30, 2025, the Supplemental Compensation Rate for CA-assisted IP CTS shall be $0.21 per minute. This rate shall be paid, in addition to the compensation defined in paragraph (b) of this section, for all compensable minutes of CA-assisted service provided by a Certified Provider for which the communications assistant producing captions was paid an hourly wage of at least $17.20 (the Minimum Hourly Wage).

(2) Succeeding years. (i) For each succeeding TRS Fund Year through June 30, 2027, the per-minute Supplemental Compensation Rate for CA-assisted IP CTS shall be determined in accordance with the following equation:

Equation 2 to Paragraph (c)(2)(i) LFY = LFY-1*(1+AFFY) Where LFY is the CA-assisted Compensation Level for the new Fund Year, LFY-1 is the CA-assisted Compensation Level for the previous Fund Year, and AFFY is the Adjustment Factor for the new Fund Year, as defined by paragraph (b)(3) of this section.

(ii) The rate in paragraph (c)(2)(i) of this section shall be paid, in addition to the compensation defined in paragraph (b) of this section, for all compensable minutes of CA-assisted service provided by a Certified Provider for which the communications assistant producing captions was paid a Minimum Hourly Wage of at least the amount determined by the following equation:

Equation 3 to Paragraph (c)(2)(ii) WFY = WFY-1*(1+AFFY) Where WFY is the Minimum Hourly Wage for the new Fund Year, WFY-1 is the Minimum Hourly Wage for the previous Fund Year, and AFFY is the Adjustment Factor for the new Fund Year, as defined by paragraph (b)(3) of this section.

(3) Verification and offset. The initial payment of Supplemental Compensation for CA-assisted IP CTS is a preliminary payment only and is conditional on subsequent verification by audit that the CAs producing captions for those minutes for which the supplement was paid actually were paid the hourly rate claimed by the provider. The Certified Provider is responsible for ensuring and documenting the accuracy of its representations to the TRS Fund administrator regarding the wages paid to each affected CA, whether such wages were paid by the Certified Provider or by a subcontractor. In such subsequent audit, if a Certified Provider fails to produce documentation, satisfactory to the TRS Fund administrator, verifying the hourly rate paid to affected CAs—whether employed by the Certified Provider or a subcontractor—then the administrator is entitled to immediately reclaim any prior payments of Supplemental Compensation for minutes handled by such CAs, by offsetting such prior payments against any amounts claimed in the provider's next monthly compensation request.

(d) Exogenous cost adjustments. In addition to the applicable per-minute Compensation Level, an IP CTS provider shall be paid a per-minute exogenous cost adjustment if claims for exogenous cost recovery are submitted by the provider and approved by the Commission on or before June 30. Such exogenous cost adjustment shall equal the amount of such approved claims divided by the provider's projected IP CTS minutes for the Fund Year. An exogenous cost adjustment shall be paid if an IP CTS provider incurs well-documented costs that:

(1) Belong to a category of costs that the Commission has deemed allowable;

(2) Result from new TRS requirements or other causes beyond the provider's control;

(3) Are new costs that were not factored into the applicable compensation formula(s); and

(4) If unrecovered, would cause a provider's current allowable-expenses-plus-allowed-operating margin to exceed its revenues.

[89 FR 71859, Sept. 4, 2024]