It is not too late for some home health providers to report how they used provider relief funds. The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) is opening the Provider Relief Fund (PRF) portal until this Friday, Dec. 2, for healthcare providers authorized to submit late reports for reporting period 3.
The PRF was established under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act for those healthcare providers affected by COVID-10. Since March 2020, Congress has allocated $178 billion to the fund. In March, HHS announced another series of PRF Phase 4 payments totaling $413 million. Phase 4 payments reimburse smaller providers for a higher percentage of losses during the pandemic and include bonus payments for providers who serve Medicaid, Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and Medicare beneficiaries.
“These funds have helped save lives throughout the pandemic,” HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a statement in March. “As we continue to make progress in defeating COVID-19, it’s important to keep supporting our providers with the resources they need so we can all build back better and healthier than before.”
For each PRF Reporting Period, a provider may request an opportunity to complete their report after the reporting period deadline based on an extenuating circumstance. These include the following: Severe illness or death, impacted by natural disaster, lack of receipt of reporting communications, failure to click “submit,” internal miscommunication or error, and incomplete targeted distribution payments.
Last year, Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO) and Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND) introduced the Provider Relief Fund Deadline Extension Act, which would delay repayment of government relief monies until the end of 2021
