HHS Announces New Medicaid-Only and Safety Net Hospital Relief Funding
Today (June 9th), the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced two new distributions totaling $25 billion from the Provider Relief Fund, originally established by the CARES Act. First, a distribution of $15 billion will be available to providers who provide services to Medicaid or Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) enrollees only. To be eligible, a provider must have billed a state Medicaid/CHIP program or Medicaid managed care plan since January 1, 2018 but must not have received a General Distribution payment (i.e., did not bill Medicare fee-for-service during 2019). HHS states that each provider will receive at least two percent of their reported annual gross revenues from patient care. To apply, providers must submit information including their annual patient revenue through HHS’s portal, which will open Wednesday.
Second, HHS will distribute an additional $10 billion to safety net hospitals. Qualifying hospitals will have:
- A Medicare Disproportionate Payment Percentage (DPP) of at least 20.2 percent;
- Average annual uncompensated care costs of at least $25,000 per bed; and
- Profitability of no more than 3 percent in the hospital’s most recent Cost Report.
Each eligible hospital will receive a direct deposit of between $5 million and $50 million.
HHS also intends to distribute a further $10 billion for hospitals in COVID-19 hotspots. To determine the amount of individual distributions, it has asked hospitals to submit information on their COVID-19 inpatient admissions for the period January 1st to June 10th. HHS is still planning a further distribution for dentists. Altogether, these distributions would reflect approximately $112 billion of the total $175 billion allocated to the Provider Relief Fund.
General information on the Provider Relief Funds is available here. The press release on the two new distributions is available here.
CMS Releases Phase II Guidance for Reopening Healthcare Facilities
Today, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released guidance for reopening facilities to provide non-emergent, non-COVID-19 care. CMS recommends that such care should be offered to patients in localities or facilities that have specific resources to provide it, as well as the ability to quickly respond to a surge in COVID-19 cases, if necessary. Facilities should use telehealth services when available and appropriate to minimize the need for in-person services, and all individuals at higher risk for severe COVID-19 illness should continue to shelter in place unless their conditions warrant in-person healthcare. For care that cannot be provided virtually, CMS provides guidance on the following topics:
- General Considerations;
- Facility Considerations;
- Testing for SARS-COV-2 to Ensure Safer Patient and Staff Care;
- PPE and Supplies;
- Workforce Availability; and
- Sanitation Protocols.
The guidance is available here.