A surge in emergency Covid-19 funds contributed to the largest increase in federal grants to U.S. states since 2009, when Congress passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Federal grants to states rose 37% in fiscal 2020 from the prior year, outpacing the average annual increase of 4% in the prior half-decade, according to a […]

Medicare, Medicaid, and the Children’s Health Insurance program will pay the full cost of Covid-19 booster shots with no cost-sharing for nearly all beneficiaries, the Biden administration announced Friday. “The Biden-Harris Administration has made the safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines accessible and free to people across the country. CMS is ensuring that cost is not […]

HHS on Friday (Sept. 10) announced it will distribute an additional $25.5 billion in COVID-19 relief funds to health care providers, including $17 billion in a phase 4 distribution from the provider relief fund and $8.5 billion in American Rescue Plan Act funds set aside for rural providers. The Biden administration has faced growing pressure […]

A bipartisan group of lawmakers want to extend the provider relief spending deadline for certain providers until at least the end of 2021, introducing legislation in both houses about a month after HHS stopped short of the complete extension for which providers, lawmakers and hospitals had asked. While the American Hospital Association and Medical Group […]

On July 1st, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) opened the Provider Relief Fund (PRF) Reporting Portal for providers who need to report on the use of funds in Reporting Period 1.  All recipients of PRF payments must comply with the reporting requirements described in the Terms and Conditions. You may recall that, on June 11th, HRSA […]