HHS announces provider relief fund reporting update

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), has amended the reporting timeline for the Provider Relief Fund Program (PRF) in light of the recent passage of the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act.

HHS has worked to provide updated reporting requirements that comply with this recently passed legislation. Consequently, PRF recipients will now be required to submit their reporting requirements on their use of these funds later than previously announced.

Starting today, however, PRF recipients may begin registering for gateway access to the reporting portal, where they will submit their information in compliance with the new reporting requirements.

Reporting portal update and registration launch

Beginning last summer, HHS began outlining comprehensive reporting instructions that would apply to recipients of PRF funds that received payments exceeding $10,000 in aggregate. HHS previously planned to open the reporting portal based on this previously released information by Jan. 15, 2021, with the first deadline for submissions on Feb. 15, 2021. In late December, however, Congress passed the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act, which added $3 billion in funding to the PRF program and included language specific to reporting requirements. HHS has been working to update the PRF reporting requirements to be consistent with this new law. As HHS has done in the past, the department wanted to give recipients ample time to familiarize themselves with the updated reporting requirements well in advance of required submission deadlines.

As of Jan. 15, HHS encourages all PRF recipients that have received aggregate PRF payments that exceed $10,000 to establish a reporting account by registering at the newly enabled PRF reporting website. The reporting requirements do not apply to funds from Nursing Home Infection Control, Rural Health Clinics Testing, and COVID-19 Claims Reimbursement to Health Care Providers and Facilities for Testing, Treatment, and Vaccine Administration for the Uninsured recipients. While there is currently no deadline for providers to establish a reporting account in the newly enabled Reporting Portal, all providers will be required to complete this first step to advance and fulfill their reporting requirements once HHS announces the new deadline to do so. Provider support and call center resources are currently limited but will be more available to answer providers’ questions once the second phase for reporting submissions is announced.

More information about the new reporting requirements and portal registration can be found here.

If you have questions about the new HHS decision, reach out to a member of the Kraft healthcare team.

© 2021