U.S. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) last week applauded action by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to increase flexibility in reporting requirements for how healthcare providers use funding from the Provider Relief Fund (PRF) authorized under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.
“I commend [HHS] Secretary Azar for making this decision to ensure that local healthcare providers can continue to serve our community during the COVID-19 pandemic,” Rep. McCarthy said on Oct. 23.
The CARES Act tasked HHS with distributing $175 billion in PRF monies to healthcare providers for healthcare-related expenses or lost revenues attributed to COVID-19. HHS in June then issued instructions and reporting requirements to providers that received PRF funds. In September, HHS issued revised instructions, reporting requirements and certain limitations on providers’ use of PRF funds. On Oct. 22, HHS announced the removal of the limitations from the September guidance on permissible uses of PRF funds after considering input from stakeholders and members of Congress.
Rep. McCarthy, in fact, sent an Oct. 16 letter to HHS Secretary Alex Azar urging that such changes be made to the September PRF reporting requirements. His letter also included constituent letters from local healthcare providers, who cited concerns that the guidance likely would mean they would have to return PRF funds to comply with the new reporting requirements. This, he wrote, “would make it harder for them to serve the communities in which they are located.”
“Healthcare providers have been working selflessly on the frontlines of COVID-19 since the very beginning to ensure the most vulnerable in our community receive the best care possible,” Rep. McCarthy said. “They have also, like many Americans, been significantly impacted financially by COVID-19.”
Rep. McCarthy urged HHS to revert to the June-issued PRF reporting requirements “for which these healthcare providers have already planned and budgeted around,” according to his letter.