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Provider Relief Fund Reporting Period Opens July 1

What ASCs need to know

BY KARA NEWBURY | JULY 2021

On July 1, the US Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) opened the reporting portal for all healthcare providers, including ASCs, that received Provider Relief Fund (PRF) grants exceeding $10,000 in aggregate. These grants were administered by HHS through the Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA).

On June 11, HHS released revised reporting requirements. Recipients now have a 90-day period to complete reporting, rather than a 30-day reporting period.

The table below provides a summary of the revised reporting requirements and deadlines.

CARES Act PRF Background

The PRF was established after the passage of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act of 2020. The CARES Act was a $2.2 trillion economic stimulus bill and the CARES Provider Relief Fund designated $100 billion of that in grants specifically for healthcare providers.

Beginning April 10, 2020, HHS automatically sent a portion of $30 billion to Medicare-certified providers that were open in 2019, based on their share of total Medicare fee-for-service (FFS) reimbursements in 2019. Starting April 24, 2020, ASCs also were eligible to request additional funding through a $20 billion distribution based on revenue submissions to the provider portal.

CARES Act PRF grants had to be used to “prevent, prepare for and respond to coronavirus.” Providers had to maintain documents to substantiate that these funds were used for healthcare-related expenses or lost revenues attributable to COVID-19, and that those expenses or losses were not reimbursed from other sources and other sources were not obligated to reimburse them. Read HRSA's PRF Allowable Expenses Overview for more information.

Registration and Reporting

In September 2020, HHS announced reporting requirements for PRF recipients. The information released included a Post-Payment Notice of Reporting Requirements specifying the information providers must submit. On January 15, 2021, HHS announced changes to the reporting timeline for the PRF and updated its “Reporting Requirements and Auditing FAQs” and “Provider Relief Fund Reporting Requirements” guidance documents. Due to the passage of H.R. 133, Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, the reporting portal, which was originally set to open on February 15, was delayed to a later date to be specified. The July 1, 2021, date was finally announced as part of the June 11 release.

For those who have not yet registered in the PRF portal, the following information will be required at the time of registration:

• Tax ID number (TIN) [or other number submitted during the application process (e.g., social security number, employer identification number (EIN)]
• Business name of the reporting entity (as it appears on IRS Form W-9)
• Contact information (i.e., name, phone number, email) of the person responsible for submitting the report
• Address (i.e., street, city, state, five-digit ZIP code) of the reporting entity as it appears on IRS Form W-9
• TIN(s) of subsidiaries (if a provider is reporting on behalf of subsidiary(ies), in a list delimited by commas, e.g.,123456789,987654321,135791357)
• Payment information (for any of the payments received)
• TIN of entity that received the payment;
• payment amount;
• mode of payment (check or direct deposit ACH); and
• check number or automated clearing house (ACH) settlement date.

Reporting entities must create a username, in the form of an email, and a password during the registration process.

Data will be required to be reported in the following categories:

• Reporting Entity Business Information
• Subsidiary Questionnaire
• Acquired/Divested Subsidiaries
• Interest Earned on PRF Payment(s)
• Tax and Single Audit Information
• Other Assistance Received
• Use of General and Targeted Distribution (including Skilled Nursing Facility and Nursing Home Infection Control Distribution) Payment(s)
• Unreimbursed Expenses Attributable to Coronavirus
• Lost Revenues Attributable to Coronavirus (and additional revenue information depending upon the option selected to calculate lost revenues)
• Personnel, Patient, and Facility Metrics
• Survey Questions

For more information about the registration process, refer to the PRF Reporting Portal User Guide and the Reporting Portal FAQs.

Register to attend the technical assistance webinar on July 8, 2021, at 3:00 pm ET.

Assistance via phone is limited to basic questions about the registration process at this time. For those inquiries, call the Provider Support Line at 866.569.3522; for TTY dial 711. Hours of operation are 7:00 am to 10:00 pm CT, Monday through Friday.

Write Kara Newbury with questions.