The last round of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) CARES Act Provider Relief Fund was a $10 billion distribution to safety net hospitals. Hospitals must have met certain criteria to receive a minimum payment of $5 million up to a maximum of $50 million.
Acute care hospitals were eligible if they meet all of the following criteria:
- Medicare disproportionate patient percentage (DPP) of 20.2% or greater
- Average uncompensated care of $25,000 per patient bed
- Net operating margin of three percent or less per most recently filed cost report
Children’s hospitals were eligible if they meet all of the following criteria:
- Medicare DPP of 20.2% or greater
- Net operating margin of three percent or less per most recently filed cost report
The HHS FAQs state that 2018 cost report data was utilized to determine the above criteria as the verified 2019 cost reports were unavailable. New providers that did not file a 2018 cost report are not eligible for a distribution. It appears that 2018 is based on the Federal fiscal year.
The formula utilized by HHS to determine the payment amount is the hospital’s facility score divided by the sum of all safety net hospitals’ facility scores multiplied by the $10 billion total distribution. Facility scores are defined as:
- Acute care hospitals – Acute Care DPP Score X Number of Facility Beds
- Children’s hospitals – Medicaid Only Ratio from the DPP X Number of Facility Beds
As with other distributions, providers must accept the funds and attest via the Provider Relief Fund Payment Attestation Portal. The terms and conditions associated with this distribution can be found here.
For more information, please contact our Albany office at (229) 883-7878 or our Atlanta office at (404) 220-8494.
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