Health care providers could see even more relief if the $484 billion interim coronavirus relief measure is signed by President Trump. The lion’s share of the bill passed the week of April 20 is dedicated to replenishing the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) now-exhausted Paycheck Protection Program and $60 billion for disaster loans through the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program. However, an additional $100 billion for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which includes $75 billion for health care provider relief and $25 billion to ramp up coronavirus testing is also included.
The additional $75 billion to the Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund administered by HHS is to be distributed to hospitals and health care providers for related expenses or lost revenue attributable to the coronavirus. The bill language mirrors the language in the CARES Act and supplements the $100 billion provided through CARES-1, of which $30 billion has already been allocated based on providers’ share of 2019 Medicare fee-for-service (FFS) billing.
Many healthcare providers should have begun seeing direct deposits from the federal Department of Health and Human Services as part of the CARES Act Provider Relief Fund passed at the end of March.
According to the HHS website, $30 billion of $100 billion allocated in relief funds to hospitals and other healthcare providers is being distributed via direct deposit beginning April 10, 2020. These are payments, not loans, to healthcare providers, and will not need to be repaid.
The Health and Human Services website provides a great synopsis of $30 billion healthcare provider relief fund. It lays out clearly who is eligible for these payments, how the distributions are determined, and what providers need to do upon receipt of the funds. We encourage you to read more here: https://www.hhs.gov/provider-relief/index.html
The Administration has indicated they will direct some of the remaining $70 billion in CARES Act funding to providers in areas particularly impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak, rural providers, providers of services with lower shares of Medicare reimbursement or who predominantly serve the Medicaid population, and providers requesting reimbursement for the treatment of uninsured Americans.
Nina Daigle, CPA, is a partner with Antares Group, Inc. She can be reached at ndaigle@antarescpas.com.
This communication is intended to provide general information on legislative COVID-19 relief measures as of the date of this communication and may reference information from reputable sources. Although our firm has made every reasonable effort to ensure that the information provided is accurate, we make no warranties, expressed or implied, on the information provided. As legislative efforts are still ongoing, we expect that there may be additional guidance and clarification from regulators that may modify some of the provisions in this communication. Some of those modifications may be significant. As such, be aware that this is not a comprehensive analysis of the subject matter covered and is not intended to provide specific recommendations to you or your business with respect to the matters addressed.