Practice Management Alert

Various funding legislation requires different rules — and things keep getting more complex.

There are three main sources of funding for mitigating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on your healthcare business, and more layers of complication may be arising.

Some programs were short-lived, while others are being funded through multiple rounds. Read on for some of the good news and bad news for providers, in terms of each respective program.

1. CARES Act Provider Relief Fund

Good news: The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is releasing $20 billion more in Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act Provider Relief Fund money to assist providers in combatting the pandemic. That’s on top of the $30 billion it automatically released last month. Payments began April 24.

Bad news: The payout amounts vary wildly; some entities, including independent practitioners, have attested to receiving only $5 as of May 4, 2020.

More information: www.hhs.gov/coronavirus/cares-act-provider-relief-fund/index.html.

2. Accelerated Payments

Good news: The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has approved more than 21,000 accelerated payment applications totaling $59.6 billion in payments to Medicare Part A providers, it says in a release. For Medicare Part B suppliers, CMS has approved almost 24,000 applications, advancing $40.4 billion in payments.

Bad news: CMS is putting the brakes on the program — including for applications that are still pending. CMS “is reevaluating the amounts that will be paid under its Accelerated Payment Program and suspending its Advance Payment Program to Part B suppliers effective immediately,” it said in the April 26 release. The availability of CARES Act funding seems to be driving the agency’s decision. “CMS will not be accepting any new applications for the Advance Payment Program, and CMS will be reevaluating all pending and new applications for Accelerated Payments in light of historical direct payments made available through the [HHS] Provider Relief Fund,” it says.

More information: www.cms.gov/files/document/Accelerated-and-Advanced-Payments-Fact-Sheet.pdf.

3. CARES Act Paycheck Protection Program (PPP)

Good news: The Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act enacted April 24 provides an additional $310 billion for the Small Business Administration (SBA) to resume the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). SBA maxed out its previous $349 billion in PPP funding April 16.

Good news/Bad news: “To further ensure PPP loans are limited to eligible borrowers, the SBA has decided, in consultation with the Department of the Treasury, that it will review all loans in excess of $2 million, in addition to other loans as appropriate, following the lender’s submission of the borrower’s loan forgiveness application,” Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and SB Administrator Jovita Carranza said in an April 28 release. “Regulatory guidance implementing this procedure will be forthcoming.”

The move could be good, in that it will free up more funds for small businesses that actually need the help, observers note. But it will place additional burdens on companies that legitimately qualify for and obtain the funds.

More information: www.sba.gov/funding-programs/loans/coronavirus-relief-options/paycheck-protection-program.