Oct 05 HHS ANNOUNCES NEW RELIEF FUNDS AND 60-DAY GRACE PERIOD FOR PRF REPORTING PERIOD 1

NEW RELIEF FUNDS

The Biden-Harris Administration announced that on September 29, 2021, health care providers will be able to apply for $25.5 billion in relief funds.  This includes $8.5 billion in American Rescue Plan (ARP) resources for providers who serve rural patients covered by Medicare, Medicaid, or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and $17 billion for Provider Relief Fund (PRF) Phase 4 for a broad range of providers. The application will be open for a period of four weeks.

American Rescue Plan (ARP) will:

• Be available to providers who serve patients in rural communities.
• Be determined based on the location of the patients, not the provider.

Provider Relief Fund (PRF) Phase 4 will:

• Cover providers who can document lost revenues and expenditures between July 1, 2020 and March 31, 2021.
• Reimburse smaller providers for their lost revenues and COVID-19 expenses at a higher rate compared to larger providers.  This reimbursement is geared towards providers who tend to operate on thin margins and often serve vulnerable or isolated communities.
• Include bonus payments for providers who serve Medicaid, CHIP, and/or Medicare patients, who tend to have lower income and greater and more complex medical needs.

Provider Relief Fund (PRF) Phase 3 Reconsideration:

To promote transparency in the PRF program, HHS is also releasing detailed information – PDF about the methodology utilized to calculate PRF Phase 3 payments. Providers who believe their PRF Phase 3 payment was not calculated correctly according to this methodology will now have an opportunity to request a reconsideration. Further details on the PRF Phase 3 reconsideration process are forthcoming.

PRF REPORTING 60-DAY GRACE PERIOD:

The Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Provider Relief Funding (PRF) reporting portal has officially opened for eligible healthcare providers to submit their PRF reporting information. Providers who received one or more Provider Relief Fund payment exceeding $10,000 must report the use of funds based on the payment received period and the corresponding newly stated use of funds deadlines. Reporting period 1 began July 1 with a deadline of September 30, 2021.

HHS recently announced a 60-day grace period that will end November 30, 2021.  While the deadlines to use funds and the Reporting Time Period will not change, HHS will not initiate collection activities or similar enforcement actions for noncompliant providers during this grace period.

For additional information on the new relief funds and PRF reporting, feel free to reach out to Sax’s Healthcare Practice for proper guidance.