Healthcare Providers: Time to Report Provider Relief Fund Expenses

The Provider Relief Fund, created in 2020 through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act and other government stimulus programs, made it possible for eligible healthcare providers to claim health care-related expenses or lost revenues attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic. Now it’s time for providers to report how those funds were spent.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently released new reporting requirements in June 2021, which supersede the requirements issued in January 2021 for reporting on funds distributed through the Provider Relief Fund program. Any healthcare provider who received one or more payments exceeding $10,000 in the aggregate through the Provider Relief Fund during a specified payment period is required to comply with the revised reporting requirements.

The new reporting requirements are available on the HHS website and several resources are accessible through the Provider Relief Fund Reporting Portal, including an FAQ and user guides. All recipients are encouraged to register in the portal in advance of their reporting period date.

The first reporting period begins July 1, 2021, and ends September 30, 2021, for providers who received payments between April 10, 2020, and June 30, 2020.

Here is a summary of key updates directly from HHS:

• The period of availability of funds is based on the date the payment is received (rather than requiring all payments be used by June 30, 2021, regardless of when they were received).
• Recipients are required to report for each Payment Received Period in which they received one or more payments exceeding, in the aggregate, $10,000 (rather than $10,000 cumulatively across all PRF payments).
• Recipients will have a 90-day period to complete reporting (rather than a 30-day reporting period).
• The reporting requirements are now applicable to recipients of the Nursing Home Infection Control Distribution (formally known as the Skilled Nursing Facility and Nursing Home Infection Control Distribution) in addition to General and other Targeted Distributions.
• The Provider Relief Fund Reporting Portal is open for providers to start submitting information as of July 1, 2021.

Recipients who received one or more payments exceeding $10,000 in the aggregate during a Payment Received Period are required to report in each applicable Reporting Time Period, per the table below.

Contact me or another Kaufman Rossin professional for compliance help related to new Provider Relief Fund reporting requirements. In addition to helping healthcare providers navigate the various reporting windows and eligible expenses, we can also help review records and gather the expenses that need to be reported.