HHS giving hospitals more leeway in using COVID-19 relief funds

Photo: John Fedele/Getty Images

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, through the Health Resources and Services Administration, has given providers more flexibility on spending COVID-19 relief funds, and has updated the reporting requirements for good measure, the agency said last week.

The deadline for using the relief funds they accrued from April 10 through June 30, 2020 is still June 30 of this year, but there's now more flexibility for providers to spend the funding if they received it after June 30, 2020.

New reporting requirements for the Provider Relief Fund expand the amount of time providers will have to report information, and extend key deadlines for expending PRF payments for recipients who received payments after June 30, 2020, in a move aimed at reducing the burden on smaller providers in particular.

The revised reporting requirements will be applicable to providers who received one or more payments exceeding $10,000, in the aggregate, during a single Payment Received Period from the PRF General Distributions, Targeted Distributions, and/or Skilled Nursing Facility and Nursing Home Infection Control Distributions.

WHAT'S THE IMPACT?

HHS began issuing notices on post-payment reporting requirements in July 2020. On January 15, 2021, HHS issued updated requirements to reflect language in the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2021 and opened registration for the reporting portal.

Since then, HHS has taken into account the evolving nature of the pandemic in crafting policy, the agency said.

The revised reporting requirements supplant the January 15 requirements. Among the key updates is that the period of availability of funds is based on the date the payment is received – rather than requiring all payments be used by June 30, 2021, regardless of when they were received.

Recipients are required to report for each Payment Received Period in which they received one or more payments exceeding $10,000 in aggregate, rather than $10,000 cumulatively across all PRF payments. And instead of a 30-day reporting period, recipients will have a 90-day period to complete reporting.

The reporting requirements are now applicable to recipients of the Skilled Nursing Facility and Nursing Home Infection Control Distribution in addition to General and other Targeted Distributions. The PRF Reporting Portal, meanwhile, will open for providers to start submitting information on July 1, 2021.

The reporting requirements don't apply to the Rural Health Clinic COVID-19 Testing Program, nor the two claims reimbursements programs, the HRSA COVID-19 Uninsured Program and the HRSA COVID-19 Coverage Assistance Fund. 

HRSA is encouraging providers to establish their PRF Reporting Portal accounts by registering, which will also allow providers to receive updates closer to the official opening of the portal for their reporting submissions.

THE LARGER TREND

In May, the American Hospital Association sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services asking the agency to allow providers to use their COVID-19 relief fund grants past the June 3 deadline, saying it would be better to extend the deadline until the end of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The provider relief funds have been a lifeline for hospitals and health systems during the pandemic, AHA said, and in some cases have ensured that facilities are able to keep their doors open.

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.

Twitter: @JELagasse
Email the writer: jeff.lagasse@himssmedia.com