On June 3, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) began notifying providers who submitted revenue information to the CARES Act Provider Relief Fund General Distribution Portal. The notifications, sent by email, included HHS’ decision about additional payments from the remaining $20 billion of the $50 billion general distribution of the decision of their applications. HHS reported that providers would receive emails once their applications have been processed as well as notification of the final status.
Per the FAQs posted on the HHS website May 29, the criteria used to determine eligibility for additional payments under the General Distribution was as follows:
“HHS is distributing an additional $20 billion of the General Distribution to providers to augment their initial allocation so that $50 billion is allocated proportional to providers’ share of 2018 net patient revenue. The allocation methodology is designed to provide relief to providers, who bill Medicare fee-for-service, with at least 2 percent of that provider’s net patient revenue regardless of the provider’s payer mix. Payments are determined based on the lesser of 2 percent of a provider’s 2018 (or most recent complete tax year) net patient revenue or the sum of incurred losses for March and April. If the initial General Distribution payment you received between April 10 and April 17 was determined to be at least 2 percent of your annual patient revenue, you may not receive additional General Distribution payments. There may be additional distributions in the future for which providers are eligible.”
Providers deemed qualified for additional payment will have 90 days from receipt of payment of the additional general distribution funds to agree to the program terms and conditions.
According to a notification obtained by The O&P EDGE, for providers who were not deemed eligible for additional funds there is no dispute process. HHS is not taking direct inquiries from providers, and no remedy or appeals process will be available.
HHS directs providers to visit hhs.gov/providerrelief for terms and conditions and FAQs, or the provider support line at (866) 569-3522.
