/ en Fri, 25 Apr 2025 16:25:23 -0500 Thu, 02 Feb 23 14:11:59 -0600 /news/headline/2023-02-02-reminder-march-31-deadline-report-period-4-provider-relief-payments <p>Health care providers who received Provider Relief Fund and/or American Rescue Plan Rural payments exceeding $10,000 total between July 1 and Dec. 31, 2021, must report to the Health Resources and Services Administration by this March 31 on how they used those funds or face enforcement actions, such as repayment or exclusion from receiving or retaining future PRF payments. The deadline to use these period 4 funds was Dec. 31, 2022. For more on the reporting requirements, click <a href="https://www.hrsa.gov/provider-relief/reporting-auditing">here</a>.</p> Thu, 02 Feb 2023 14:11:59 -0600 CARES Act Provider Relief Fund (PRF) <div class="container"> <div class="row"> <div class="col-md-8"> <p>The Wall Street Journal today published an <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/billions-in-covid-aid-went-to-hospitals-that-didnt-need-it-11670164570" target="_blank" title>article</a> examining the federal government’s distribution of COVID-19 emergency funding to hospitals through the Provider Relief Fund (PRF). The article discusses a number of aspects of the PRF distribution, including the initial formula the Department of Health and Human Services used at the beginning of the pandemic to disburse the funds, and how hospitals used the funds.</p> <h2>AHA Take</h2> <p>The AHA believes that the article misses the mark in a number of areas and has sent a letter to the editor of the Wall Street Journal in response. Among other areas, the article:</p> <ul> <li>Fails to adequately acknowledge the urgency to get initial funding to hospitals as they were overrun with COVID-19 patients and many were required to stop providing non-emergent care at the beginning of the pandemic. These resources were a critical lifeline during an uncertain time when virtually all revenues necessary to keep our doors open were shut down by government action.</li> <li>Tries to draw comparisons between the number of COVID-19 deaths in a community and the amount of PRF funds received. Under the law, the number of COVID-19 deaths in a community did not have anything to do with the distribution of funds, and would have been an unworkable metric at the beginning of the pandemic.</li> <li>Fails to highlight how under the law any funds not used for COVID-19 expenses and lost revenue must be returned to the government.</li> </ul> <p>Importantly, the piece does not recognize the financial distress the nation’s hospitals and health systems are facing today after three years of COVID-19 and inflationary pressures on workforce, supplies and equipment required to take care of patients.</p> <h2>What You Can Do</h2> <ul> <li><strong>Please share this Advisory</strong> with your leadership, government relations and communications teams.</li> <li><strong>Review the updated <a href="/system/files/media/file/2022/12/Talking-Points-on-Provider-Relief-Fund.pdf">talking points</a> that can assist you in responding to questions about the PRF.</strong></li> <li><strong>Prepare to tell how your hospital or health system used the COVID-19 PRF money</strong> to prevent, prepare for, and respond to COVID-19, including by setting up alternative care sites, procuring testing, administering vaccines and supporting their workforce. <p> </p> </li> </ul> <h2>Further Questions</h2> <p>If you have further questions, please contact Colin Milligan, AHA senior director of media relations, at <a href="mailtocmilligan@aha.org">cmilligan@aha.org</a> or <a href="1-202-638-5491">202-638-5491</a>.</p> </div> <div class="col-md-4"> <p><a href="/system/files/media/file/2022/12/Member-Advisory-Article-Spotlights-Distribution-of-COVID-19-Provider-Relief-Funds-to-Hospitals.pdf" target="_blank" title="Click here to download the Member Advisory: Article Spotlights Distribution of COVID-19 Provider Relief Funds to Hospitals PDF."><img alt="Member Advisory: Article Spotlights Distribution of COVID-19 Provider Relief Funds to Hospitals page 1." data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="e1d18b1c-662f-4286-b4a2-9d89962450a3" src="/sites/default/files/inline-images/Page-1-Member-Advisory-Article-Spotlights-Distribution-of-COVID-19-Provider-Relief-Funds-to-Hospitals.png" width="695" height="900"></a></p> </div> </div> </div> Mon, 05 Dec 2022 17:11:19 -0600 CARES Act Provider Relief Fund (PRF) <div class="container"> <div class="row"> <div class="col-md-8"> <ul> <li>The reality is that all of America’s hospitals and health systems, regardless of size, location and financial status stepped forward to provide essential care and keep communities safe during this historic pandemic. <ul> <li>The hospital field does far more than any other part of the health care sector to support our neighbors: Our doors are always open, 24/7, and we often act as a public safety net for the nation.</li> <li>Many hospitals came into the pandemic already in dire financial shape, with over two in three operating with negative margins or barely breaking even.</li> </ul> </li> <li>During the pandemic, many hospitals had to postpone or cancel non-emergent care due to government mandates, further threatening their financial stability. They were also paying much more for staffing and needed personal protective equipment, and to set up new care sites and vaccination clinics.</li> <li>Congress rightly recognized the indispensable role hospitals play as the backbone of our health care system and, on a bipartisan basis, swiftly took steps in the early days of the pandemic to provide needed support to ensure hospitals would remain resilient.</li> <li>These funds were for hospitals to use to prevent, prepare for, and respond to the novel COVID-19 virus, including by setting up alternative care sites, procuring testing, administering vaccines and supporting their workforce. They were also intended to compensate hospitals for lost revenue due to the pandemic. Under the law, the number of COVID-19 deaths in a community did not have anything to do with the distribution of funds, and would have been an unworkable metric at the beginning of the pandemic.</li> <li>The federal government appropriately worked to get this critical relief out quickly as our health care system was facing a historic crisis during this once-in-a-century pandemic. While we registered concerns at the time with the use of revenue as a proxy, we agreed that providing needed help in a timely manner was far more important. Subsequent distributions of federal dollars were adjusted to target hospitals in need.</li> <li>These funds, all of which providers are held accountable for under law, have allowed hospitals to continue to serve all who need care. If hospitals received more funds than their COVID-19-related expenses and lost revenue, there will be a reporting and auditing process and the excess funding will be returned to the government. The provider relief fund was a successful partnership between the federal government and the provider community to address our greatest health care threat in recent years.</li> <li>Financial reserves beyond the provider relief fund helped hospitals continue to provide care as the pandemic stretched into years, and through multiple variants, including the massive omicron wave at the end of 2021 and beginning of 2022. Reserves also help allow hospitals to pursue needed physical upgrades to their facilities, train the next generation of health care workers, and invest in cutting edge technology and research to better treat patients and find cures to chronic diseases.</li> <li>As highlighted in recent reports from the AHA and other organizations, hospitals and health systems are facing historic increases in costs to both operate and provide care. This includes expenses for workforce, drugs, supplies and equipment.</li> <li>These cost surges, along with ongoing challenges from the pandemic, Medicare sequester payment cuts phasing back in, inadequate Medicare payment updates that fail to account for inflation, workforce challenges and the downturn in the financial markets, have continued to strain the resources the hospital field needs to care for their patients and communities.</li> <li>We should now be looking for opportunities to ensure that we keep all hospitals and health systems strong and our patients and communities healthy.</li> </ul> </div> <div class="col-md-4"> <p><a href="/system/files/media/file/2022/12/Talking-Points-on-Provider-Relief-Fund.pdf" target="_blank" title="Click here to download the Talking Points on Provider Relief Fund PDF."><img alt="Talking Points on Provider Relief Fund page 1." data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="8abc3340-6174-4453-ae6c-3a22b3454ac6" src="/sites/default/files/inline-images/Page-1-Talking-Points-on-Provider-Relief-Fund.png" width="695" height="900"></a></p> </div> </div> </div> Mon, 05 Dec 2022 15:47:00 -0600 CARES Act Provider Relief Fund (PRF) /news/headline/2022-11-18-hrsa-opens-provider-relief-fund-portal-late-reporting <p>The Health Resources and Services Administration this week <a href="https://www.hrsa.gov/provider-relief/reporting-auditing/late-reporting-requests">opened</a> the Provider Relief Fund reporting portal through Dec. 2 for health care providers authorized to report late on how they used PRF payments received between Jan. 1 and June 30, 2021 that totaled over $10,000. After submitting a late report, the provider has up to 30 days to return any unused funds (https://www.hrsa.gov/provider-relief/reporting-auditing/returning-funds) to HRSA.<br />  </p> Fri, 18 Nov 2022 14:03:16 -0600 CARES Act Provider Relief Fund (PRF) /news/headline/2022-07-07-hhs-distributes-phase-4-provider-relief-fund-payments <p>The Department of Health and Human Services today through the Health Resources and Services Administration is making more than $142 million in <a href="https://www.hrsa.gov/provider-relief/future-payments">Provider Relief Fund Phase 4 General Distribution</a> payments to more than 150 providers across the country. Providers will receive an email notification if their application was among those processed in this latest batch.  <br />  <br /> Nearly $14.5 out of $17 billion in PRF Phase 4 funding has now been distributed. This is in addition to HRSA’s distribution of American Rescue Plan Rural payments totaling over $8 billion. <br />  </p> Thu, 07 Jul 2022 16:03:00 -0500 CARES Act Provider Relief Fund (PRF) /news/blog/2022-06-23-article-provider-relief-funds-misses-mark <p>A <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/06/22/covid-hospital-relief-fund/" target="_blank" title="Washington Post: The unintended consequences of the $178 billion bailout to keep hospitals and doctors afloat">recent article</a> in the Washington Post “COVID bailout rescued some hospitals while enriching others” is wrong. The reality is that all of America’s hospitals and health systems, regardless of size, location and ownership type have provided essential care to their patients and communities during this historic pandemic, all while facing tremendous financial challenges and pressures.</p> <p>To begin with, many hospitals came into the pandemic in dire financial shape, with over two in three hospitals either operating with negative margins or barely breaking even. During the pandemic, due to government-imposed restrictions or to conserve resources to care for COVID-19 patients, many hospitals had to postpone or cancel non-emergent care, further threatening their financial stability. They were also paying much more for needed personal protective equipment and to set up additional sites of care and eventually vaccination clinics.</p> <p>As highlighted in a recent <a href="/costsofcaring">report from the AHA</a>, hospitals and health systems are experiencing tremendous growth in a variety of input costs, including expenses for workforce, drugs, supplies and equipment, as well as the impact of skyrocketing economy-wide inflation. In fact, labor expenses per patient increased 19% through 2021 compared to 2019 levels. Labor costs, which include costs associated with recruiting and retaining staff, benefits and incentives, account for more than 50% of hospitals’ total expenses. These surges in input costs, along with ongoing challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic, Medicare sequester payment cuts phasing back in, inadequate Medicare payment updates that fail to account for inflation and the downturn in the financial markets, have continued to strain the resources the hospital field needs to care for their patients and communities.</p> <p>To their credit, Congress recognized the indispensable role hospitals play as the backbone of our health care system and swiftly took steps in the early days of the pandemic to provide needed support to ensure hospitals would remain resilient. These funds were for hospitals to use to prevent, prepare for, and respond to the novel COVID-19 virus, including by setting up alternative care sites, procuring testing, administering vaccines and supporting their workforce. The federal government appropriately worked to get this critical relief out quickly as our health care system was facing a historic crisis during this once-in-a-century pandemic.</p> <p>These funds, all of which providers are held accountable for under law, have allowed hospitals to continue to serve all who need care. If hospitals received more funds than their COVID-19-related expenses and lost revenue, there will be a reporting and auditing process and the excess funding will be returned to the government.</p> <p>It is important to stress that each hospital and health system came into the pandemic with their own unique financial situation, but that each and every one of them played an integral role in caring for patients and protecting their communities. Cherry-picking financial data is not reflective of the many immense struggles and challenges facing the hospital field, including a historic workforce shortage crisis, along with spiking input costs for supplies, equipment, drugs and labor, and near-historic levels of inflation.</p> <p>In addition, some hospitals found that being part of larger health systems was an important part of their efforts to meet the many pandemic challenges. Health systems were able to adapt and even draw from within their own teams to secure the staffing resources needed when specific geographic areas were experiencing surges. Flexing and reallocating staff when needed allowed them to stand-up expanded intensive care units to meet the influx of COVID-19 patients and to create vaccination clinics, to give a few examples. These systems can also provide the ability to offer financially distressed hospitals, including many in metropolitan and rural areas, a vital lifeline that can enable them to stay afloat, maintain access to care for patients and expand the breadth of services and programs offered to their communities.</p> <p>Reserves helped hospitals continue to provide care as the pandemic stretched into months and years, and through multiple waves of hospitalizations, including the massive omicron wave at the end of 2021 and beginning of 2022. Hospital reserves also provided a cushion to help ensure hospitals remain vigilant as they prepare for the health care needs of their communities for the years and decades to come. This means investing in new technology, modernizing their facilities and creating new programs to serve their patients.</p> <p>Arguing that the critical support from the Provider Relief Fund was somehow unjustified because not all hospitals are now at the financial brink makes no sense. Instead, we should be looking for opportunities to ensure that we keep all hospitals and health systems strong and our patients and communities healthy. The hospital field does far more than any other part of the health care sector to support our neighbors: Our doors are always open, 24/7.</p> <p><em>Rick Pollack is the president and CEO of the ���������� Association.</em></p> Thu, 23 Jun 2022 13:30:33 -0500 CARES Act Provider Relief Fund (PRF) /news/headline/2022-05-26-reminder-june-14-deadline-submit-late-covid-19-relief-fund-reports <p>Health care providers who received approval to submit a late report on how they used Provider Relief Fund payments received from July 1 to Dec. 31, 2020, must submit the report at the <a href="https://prfreporting.hrsa.gov/s/">PRF Reporting Portal</a> by June 14 or <a href="https://www.hrsa.gov/provider-relief/reporting-auditing/returning-funds">return the funds</a> to comply with Health Resources and Services Administration requirements. For more information on reporting on these Period 2 funds, see HRSA’s <a href="https://www.hrsa.gov/provider-relief/reporting-auditing/reporting-resources">reporting resources</a>. <br />  </p> Thu, 26 May 2022 16:45:32 -0500 CARES Act Provider Relief Fund (PRF) /news/headline/2022-05-26-advertorial-hospital-challenges-mount-costs-inflation-rise <p>Hospitals are contending with an exhausted workforce, backlogs of care deferred by the pandemic, cracks in the supply chain and a tsunami of financial challenges, AHA President and CEO Rick Pollack writes in an <a href="/aha-news/2022-05-26-advertorial-hospital-challenges-mount-costs-inflation-rise">advertorial</a> published today in the Wall Street Journal. <br />  <br /> “Taken together, these challenges threaten access to care for patients and communities in the short term and are unsustainable for the long term,” he notes. “To address some of the immediate needs and ensure access to care, we continue to urge Congress to provide support to hospitals and their caregivers.” <br />  <br /> Among specific actions, the advertorial calls for Congress to reverse Medicare cuts that resumed in April and will increase July 1; provide additional funding to address lost revenues and increased expenses brought on by the delta and omicron surges; and extend or make permanent critical waivers that have improved patient care. </p> Thu, 26 May 2022 16:38:17 -0500 CARES Act Provider Relief Fund (PRF) /news/blog/2022-05-17-recent-op-ed-gets-it-wrong-hospital-field-continues-need-relief-and-support <p>A recent op-ed in the online publication STAT (<a href="https://www.statnews.com/2022/05/13/turn-off-the-spigot-for-hospitals-covid-19-relief-funding/" target="_blank">Turn off the spigot for hospitals’ COVID-19 relief funding</a>) contains blatant factual inaccuracies but also omits critical information about hospital and health systems’ finances and input costs.</p> <p>To start, the authors incorrectly state that the federal government allocated more than $170 billion to hospitals through the Provider Relief Fund (PRF). While a sizable percentage of these funds did go to hospitals and health systems, other provider types, such as physicians and dentists, also received funds through this pool. In addition, the losses hospitals have incurred throughout the pandemic are far greater than the relief and support they have received through the PRF and other measures.</p> <p>Further, under the current PRF allocation, hospitals and health systems will not receive any funds for expenses and lost revenue from the massive delta and omicron surges that spiked COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations to record high levels. In fact, more than half of all COVID-19 hospitalizations occurred during these two surges, putting an incredible strain on hospitals and health systems and their caregivers and other essential workers. While hospitalizations have declined since the record peaks during the omicron surge, cases have recently spiked across the country.</p> <p>We appreciate the funds from the PRF, along with other support and relief from Congress and the Administration, that have been a lifeline to many hospitals. However, our field is not out of the woods yet, with more than a third of hospitals nationwide operating with negative margins. Kaufman Hall’s April <a href="https://www.kaufmanhall.com/insights/research-report/national-hospital-flash-report-april-2022" target="_blank">National Hospital Flash Report</a> shows hospitals’ and health systems’ operating margins were negative for a third consecutive month. The median year-to-date Kaufman Hall Operating Margin Index was -2.43% in March. And, <a href="https://www.healthcaredive.com/news/nonprofit-hospitals-q1-losses/623774" target="_blank">according to the Fitch credit rating agency</a>, “This first quarter of the calendar year here is going to be just one of the worst for most of our providers.”</p> <p>A recent report from the AHA examines the tremendous growth in a variety of input costs for hospitals and health systems, including surging expenses for workforce, drugs, supplies and equipment, as well as the impact of skyrocketing economy-wide inflation. These surges in input costs, along with ongoing challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic and Medicare payment cuts, have continued to strain the resources the hospital field needs to care for their patients and communities.</p> <p>For example,</p> <ul> <li>Hospital employment is down nearly 100,000 from pre-pandemic levels according to BLS data. At the same time, labor expenses per patient increased 19.1% through 2021 compared to 2019 levels. Labor costs, which include costs associated with recruiting and retaining employed staff, benefits and incentives, account for more than 50% of hospitals’ total expenses.</li> <li>Median hospital drug expenses by the end of 2021 were 36.9% higher per patient compared to the end of 2019.</li> <li>Overall, supply expenses for hospitals were 20.6% higher per patient by the end of 2021 compared to 2019.</li> </ul> <p>The authors also say, “hospitals don’t deserve special treatment.” Yet, the truth is that hospitals are different than other health care providers in that they are open 24/7 and provide services to anyone who walks through their doors, often dealing with life or death situations where patients require intensive, time-sensitive care. In addition, and important to the current discussion on inflation and rising prices, the majority of payments to hospitals, through Medicare and Medicaid, are fixed and non-negotiable, even though both programs pay hospitals less than the cost of providing care.</p> <p>The pandemic has clearly demonstrated that America cannot be strong without its hospitals and health systems being strong. As the authors’ note, we do continue to urge Congress to provide much needed additional support to address these challenges, including reversing harmful Medicare cuts, replenishing the Provider Relief Fund, granting flexibility on accelerated and advance Medicare repayments, and extending or making permanent critical waivers that have improved patient care.</p> Tue, 17 May 2022 11:47:15 -0500 CARES Act Provider Relief Fund (PRF) /news/headline/2022-05-13-hrsa-extends-may-18-deadline-request-prf-reporting-exception <p>The Health Resources and Services Administration has <a href="https://www.hrsa.gov/provider-relief/reporting-auditing/late-reporting-requests">extended to May 18</a> the deadline for health care providers who received Provider Relief Fund payments exceeding $10,000 total between July 1 and Dec. 31, 2020, and missed the March 31 deadline to report to on how they used those funds to request an extenuating circumstances extension. The original deadline to request an exception was May 13. </p> Fri, 13 May 2022 16:31:25 -0500 CARES Act Provider Relief Fund (PRF)