As the pandemic continues, U.S. Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Todd Young (R-IN) joined a bipartisan group of 43 senators to ask that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) provide an immediate update on its plans to distribute the unobligated funds remaining in the Provider Relief Fund and other healthcare relief programs.
Congress has appropriated $178 billion for the Provider Relief Fund (PRF), as well as an additional $8.5 billion for rural providers. However, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported on July 19 that 25 percent of the PRF funding and all of the rural provider funding remained unobligated as of May 31, according to an Aug. 26 letter Sen. Collins, Sen. Young and their colleagues sent to HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra.
“GAO recommended that HHS communicate information about, and facilitate oversight of, the department’s use of COVID-19 relief funds by providing projected time frames for its planned distributions in the spend plans it submits to Congress,” the senators wrote. “We fully agree with GAO’s assessment and ask that HHS announce and implement its plans for additional disbursement of provider relief funds.”
The senators pointed out that the PRF funding distribution process has been uneven due to shifting guidance, difficulties in reconciling tax information, the absence of a formal appeals process, and other technical problems, while plans for additional PRF distributions have been opaque, according to their letter.
“Hospitals, nursing homes, assisted living providers, health clinics, and other healthcare providers need these funds to help weather the financial difficulties created by the pandemic,” they wrote. “In rural areas in particular, the PRF has prevented facilities that struggled before and during the pandemic from falling into bankruptcy or closing entirely.”
The senators noted that as the healthcare provider community continues to respond to the challenges posed by the pandemic, “this funding should be released without any further delay.”
Among the lawmakers who joined Sens. Collins and Young in signing the letter were U.S. Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Jerry Moran (R-KS), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Rob Portman (R-OH), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Deb Fischer (R-NE), John Hoeven (R-ND), Steve Daines (R-MT), and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH).