Hospitals urge HHS to distribute billions that remain in the COVID-19 relief fund
Not all of the money allocated to date has been distributed, and what has may not have been fully utilized by the recipients.
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Hospitals and provider groups, including the American Hospital Association and America's Essential Hospitals, are requesting that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services distribute billions of dollars that remain in a $178 billion COVID-19 relief fund meant for providers.
In a letter sent to HHS on Monday, the groups lobbied Secretary Xavier Becerra to release about $24 billion that remain in the COVID-19 Provider Relief Fund, and to extend the date by which it must be used. At this point, hospitals and other providers have a deadline of June 30 to use the funds.
Rather than using that deadline, the groups suggest using the length of the public health emergency as the measuring stick, and imply that the work of treating COVID-19 patients is ongoing despite the increase in vaccinated adults.
Tens of thousands of patients are still being treated at facilities across the country, the letter said, and intensive care unit capacity is still quite high in many areas. This means financial challenges will persist for the indefinite future, and perhaps get worse before they get better.
WHAT'S THE IMPACT?
Congress has allocated $178 billion to date to aid healthcare providers through the Provider Relief Fund. In the most recent COVID-19 relief package, it has designated an additional $8.5 billion through the Rural Relief Fund. But not all of those funds have been distributed, and those that have may not have been fully used by the recipients as of yet.
"We previously noted the ongoing financial burden our members are facing; add to this the uncertainty regarding when the pandemic will ease more considerably to allow for a full return to 'business as usual,' such as regular wellness visits and the resumption of scheduled surgeries," the groups wrote.
"Our hospitals will continue to face challenges beyond June 30 in providing adequate staffing, supplies, personal protective equipment, testing and vaccinations."
According to reports released by the American Hospital Association, hospitals were projected to lose to at least $323 billion through the end of 2020, with additional projected losses this year of as much as $122 billion.
Other signers of the letter include Vizient, the Association of American Medical Colleges, the Catholic Health Association of the United States, the Children's Hospital Association, the Federation of American Hospitals, the National Association for Behavioral Healthcare and Premier.
THE LARGER TREND
This week's letter is a follow-up of sorts to an AHA letter that was sent to HHS last week urging the agency to allow providers to use their COVID-19 relief fund grants past the current June 30 deadline.
The Provider Relief Fund has been a source of financial backing for a number of different efforts and initiatives, including the training, staffing and storage related to COVID-19 vaccines.
Typically, providers would bill either insurance plans or patients for these expenses, but providers must administer the COVID-19 vaccine at no out-of-pocket cost to the recipient, according to a policy reiterated by HHS in April when reports surfaced of patients being charged.
In a Dec. 29, 2020 letter to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the AHA recommended that CMS increase the payment rates for the administration of the COVID-19 vaccine to reflect the higher resource costs involved in administering the COVID-19 vaccine compared to other preventive vaccines. In March, Medicare upped the payment for a single-dose COVID-19 vaccine, from $28.39 to approximately $40 for its administration.
For COVID-19 vaccines requiring multiple doses, such as Pfizer and Moderna, Medicare increased payment to about $40 for each dose, from $16.94 for the initial dose and $28.39 for the second.
As of Wednesday, there were 159,784,683 confirmed cases of COVID-19 across the world, including more than 32.7 million in the U.S., which leads the world. The U.S. also leads the world in virus-related deaths, with 582,876, according to the Johns Hopkins coronavirus tracker.
Twitter: @JELagasse
Email the writer: jeff.lagasse@himssmedia.com
