Providers Must Act Today to Receive Additional Coronavirus Relief

Providers need to take action by today to be eligible for additional coronavirus relief payments, HHS warned on its website.

For more coronavirus updates, visit our resource page, updated twice daily by Xtelligent Healthcare Media.

The alert on HHS’ webpage for the CARES Act Provider Relief Fund stated that providers must submit revenue information to the General Distribution Portal by June 3, 2020, to be considered for another general distribution payment. About $20 billion remain in general distribution payments.

“Once providers submit their revenue information by June 3, 2020, if deemed qualified for additional payment, providers will then have 90 days from receipt of payment of the additional General Distribution funds to agree to the program Terms and Conditions,” HHS stated in the alert.

Providers who automatically received a general distribution payment from the Provider Relief Fund prior to 5:00 pm, April 24th, 2020, must also accept the Terms and Conditions of any general distribution payments they received prior to 5:00 pm, Friday, April 24th, HHS stated. They must also submit revenue information, such as tax forms or financial statements, by the end of the day today.

To offset the financial losses from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, HHS is distributing $175 billion to hospitals and other healthcare providers, including $50 billion in payments from a general distribution fund.

The department has already disbursed $30 billion of the general distribution funds to providers impacted by COVID-19 based on their Medicare billings in 2019. The payments were allocated automatically between April 10, 2020, and April 17, 2020.

Starting April 24, HHS began distributing the remaining general distribution payments based on a provider’s net patient revenue. At this time, the department also began accepting submissions from eligible providers of their financial data.

HHS previously stated that providers have 45 days from the date they received the general distribution payments to attest and accept the Terms and Conditions or return the coronavirus relief funds. However, according to the new alert, providers who submit revenue information by June 3, 2020, and are deemed qualified for an additional payment from the Provider Relief Fund, will have 90 days from the receipt of the general distribution payment to agree to the Terms and Conditions.

More coronavirus relief is also coming to healthcare providers. HHS announced yesterday that the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) is providing an additional $250 million in payments to healthcare systems treating and responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. The additional funds bring HHS’ coronavirus relief funding to a total of $350 million to healthcare systems for pandemic response.

"While our country mourns those we have lost from this pandemic, we continue to support America’s hospitals and heroic frontline healthcare workers who are treating COVID-19 patients and saving American lives," HHS Secretary Alex Azar stated in the announcement. "This additional funding secured from Congress by President Trump will help healthcare providers prepare for and treat patients with COVID-19. By supporting coordination among different healthcare facilities across a region, HHS is helping communities care for COVID-19 patients while also addressing day-to-day medical needs.”

The funds will be used to bolster healthcare capabilities, including workforces, telemedicine and virtual care, and care coordination, as well as the National Special Pathogen System, a nationwide systems-based network approach similar to other models that improve patient outcomes such as the trauma, cardiac, and stroke systems of care, HHS reported.

Specific funding for these awardees can be found on phe.gov/hpp.