Wednesday, April 22 Recap
Note – We believe this is the most up-to-date information available at this time, but it is subject to change as circumstances warrant. Also, all finalized resources can be found on the COVID-19 Resource Center page of Hall Render’s website.
HHS Releases More Information on CARES Funding
This afternoon HHS Secretary Alex Azar released more information on the future distribution of CARES funds. A summary is below and more information can be found here.
- $20 billion in “general funds” are going to hospitals and doctors on Friday. This allocation will be made using the same methodology as the first round of funding but based upon patient revenue from 2018 instead of 2019, which was what was used for the first tranche of $30 billion.
- On April 24, a portion of providers will automatically be sent an advance payment based off the revenue data they submit in CMS cost reports. Providers without adequate cost report data on file will need to submit their revenue information to a portal opening this week linked on this page for additional general distribution funds.
- As early as next week, $10 billion will be targeted at hot spots based on TeleTracking data submission. Using New York as an example, Azar said that if it has 40% of Covid-19 cases it would get $4 billion.
- As early as next week, $10 billion will be delivered to rural hospitals and $400 million to Indian Health Services providers that will be allocated “based upon operating expenses.”
- The remaining $29.6 billion in CARES funds for health care providers will be distributed to “Medicaid-only providers, dentists, skilled nursing facilities in hot zones, care for the uninsured, and additional hot spot funds as needed.”
- Of that $29.6 billion, $1 billion will be put into a fund to reimburse care for the uninsured that will be managed by HRSA.
- Providers will need to enroll in the program and submit claims for any care that happened after Feb. 4.
- Reimbursement will be for testing and care related to a COVID-19 diagnosis, including hospital care, outpatient care, nursing facilities and FDA-approved treatments.
- A person with a short-term health insurance plan doesn’t count as uninsured.
- Providers can start registering to receive payments for uninsured care April 27, submit claims starting May 6 and receive payments starting in mid-May.
- The process for submitting uninsured claims can be found here: https://www.hrsa.gov/coviduninsuredclaim.
Congressional Outlook
- The House is expected to vote tomorrow on an interim emergency spending measure that includes $75 billion more for hospitals, $310 billion for the Paycheck Protection Program, $60 billion for emergency disaster loans to small businesses and $25 billion for virus testing.
- After the vote, the House will go back into recess until May 8. The Senate is scheduled to return to Washington on May 4.
Trump Administration Releases Immigration Executive Order with Health Care Provider Exemption
- President Trump issued an Executive Order today titled, “Proclamation Suspending Entry of Immigrants who Present Risk to the U.S. Labor Market during the Economic Recovery Following the COVID-19 Outbreak.”
- According to the order, the suspension and limitation shall not apply to…“any alien seeking to enter the United States on an immigrant visa as a physician, nurse, or other healthcare professional; to perform medical research or other research intended to combat the spread of COVID-19; or to perform work essential to combating, recovering from, or otherwise alleviating the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak, as determined by the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Homeland Security, or their respective designees; and any spouse and unmarried children under 21 years old of any such alien who are accompanying or following to join the alien.”
CMS Releases Toolkit for States Navigating COVID-19 Health Workforce Challenges
- CMS and the Assistant Secretary of Preparedness and Response (“ASPR”) released a new toolkit to help state and local decision makers maximize health care workforce flexibilities when addressing COVID-19.
CMS Issues Guidance on Independent Freestanding Emergency Departments
- CMS issued guidance for licensed independent freestanding Emergency Departments (“ED”s) to participate in Medicare and Medicaid during the COVID-19 crisis.
For more information, please contact:
- John Williams III at (202) 370-9585 or jwilliams@hallrender.com;
- Andrew Coats at (202) 370-9587 or acoats@hallrender.com;
- Abby Kaericher at (202) 780-2989 or akaericher@hallrender.com; or
- Your regular Hall Render attorney.
Hall Render’s attorneys and professionals continue to maintain the most up-to-date information and resources at our COVID-19 Resource page, through our 24/7 COVID‑19 Hotline at (317) 429-3900 or by contacting your regular Hall Render attorney.
Hall Render blog posts and articles are intended for informational purposes only. For ethical reasons, Hall Render attorneys cannot—outside of an attorney-client relationship—answer specific questions that would be legal advice.
