The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has distributed a significant portion of the $100 billion appropriated in the CARES Act for the Provider Relief Fund.
Provider Relief Fund payments are being disbursed by both “General” and “Targeted” Distributions. The Provider Relief Fund Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) were recently updated to address the control and use of the Provider Relief Fund payments for parent and subsidiary entities.
For General Distribution payments, the FAQs indicate that the payments can be controlled by the parent organization and allocated at the parent’s discretion to its subsidiaries. According to the FAQs, if the parent organization would like to control and use the General Distribution payments, the parent organization must do the following:
- Attest to accepting its subsidiaries’ payments
- Agree to the terms and conditions for the General Distribution payments
- Distribute funds only to entities which are eligible under the Provider Relief Fund such as entities associated with the parent organization which were providing diagnoses, testing, or care for individuals with possible or actual cases of COVID-19 on or after January 31, 2020
- Substantiate that the funds were used for increased healthcare-related expenses or lost revenue attributable to COVID-19
- Confirm that the expenses or lost revenue were not reimbursed from other sources and other sources were not obligated to reimburse them
Targeted Distribution (i.e. Skilled Nursing Facility, Safety Net Hospital, Rural, High Impact Area) payments are to “support the specific financial needs of the payment recipient” as stipulated in the FAQs. Different from the General Distribution payments, these amounts may not be allocated at the parent organization’s discretion. Specifically, the FAQs state “Control and use of the funds must remain with the entity that received the Targeted Distribution payment.”
For more information, please contact our Albany office at (229) 883-7878 or our Atlanta office at (404) 220-8494.
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