Update (June 21, 2021): Healthcare providers receiving Provider Relief Fund payments will have to report to the government on using such payments before certain newly announced spending deadlines. The first spending deadline is June 30, 2021, with a 90-day reporting period beginning July 1, 2021, to report on funds received in the first half of 2020. For the most recent updates on future deadlines and further guidance on Provider Relief Fund reporting, visit our Provider Relief Fund reporting page.
McGuireWoods Chicago associate Timothy Fry was quoted in a June 2, 2020, Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA) article on the second round of federal relief funding for hospitals and providers under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) and the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act.
Practices hoping to get grants through the $20 billion second round of general distribution payments needed to submit their applications by June 3 and have been given more flexibility to agree to the federal agency’s terms and conditions. Fry, a member of the firm’s healthcare practice, explained that HHS allowed providers to apply for the second tranche of payments without first agreeing to the agency’s terms and conditions for the first tranche.
“If anybody was on the fence, they are giving the incentive to go ahead and get that application in,” Fry said.
Questions over how HHS defines healthcare-related expenses in calculating lost revenue is just one area of uncertainty providers face in preparing their applications, Fry said.
“Providers are in a real struggle,” he added. “People are looking for more guidance there.”
Fry also was quoted in a June 4, 2020, Healthcare Dive piece on the issue. He explained that HHS’ funding formulas are based on data from prior years, further complicating matters. “The industry is not static,” he said, noting that mergers could have changed the way practices are structured.
Fry also co-authored a May 22, 2020, client alert on this topic for McGuireWoods’ Coronavirus: Impact and Insight website.