Over $24 Billion in Phase 3 Provider Relief Funding (PRF)
The Trump Administration has finalized their Phase 3 Provider Relief Funding (PRF) amounts that are a total of $24.5 billion, up from the original $20 billion amount, to over 70,000 providers, through the Human Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). 90% of each applicant’s reported lost revenues and net change in expenses in the first half of the 2020 year, according to HHS Secretary Alex Azar. The payment period of the funding will be from December 2020 through January 2021.
“With the Provider Relief Fund, we’ve been able to support providers hardest hit by COVID-19, including safety-net hospitals, rural providers, and nursing homes, helping ensure they can continue serving their communities during and beyond the pandemic,” states Azar.
HHS implemented versatility within the PRF program to accommodate the constantly changing landscape of the pandemic. For example, applicants that have not been given a baseline payment of 2% of yearly revenue from patient care were now eligible to do so. Also, funding was not just limited to new applicants of the program, those that were already eligible for original program funding amounts were invited to apply for additional funding for this round. Nursing home providers will be receiving an additional $1.10 billion in funding while ambulance providers will be receiving $1.48 billion.
The additional $4 billion added to the updated total of $24.5 billion in funding was added after the HHS quickly realized that the original $20 million budget would not satisfy the applicants’ submissions of lost revenues and net changes in expenses for Phase 3 of the program. The additional funding will distribute up to 88% of providers’ total reported losses. However, 35,000+ applicants will not receive additional payments because they have already received funds that are or are above this 88% or have not experienced a change in revenue or net expenses due to the pandemic.
Going forward, the PRF program will be still prioritizing ways to equip providers’ employees with PPE and expanding capacity to continually fight against Covid-19.
