On Oct. 1, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced phase 3 of the Provider Relief Fund (PRF) general allocation. In this phase, the administration will allocate $20 billion in new funding for eligible providers on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic, including:
- providers that already received PRF payments and require additional support;
- previously ineligible providers, such as those who began practicing in 2020; and
- an expanded group of behavioral health providers confronting the emergence of increased mental health and substance use issues exacerbated by the pandemic.
Phase 3 is designed to balance an equitable payment of 2 percent of annual revenue from patient care for all applicants with an add-on payment to account for revenue losses and expenses attributable to COVID-19. Providers who did not receive a payment equal to approximately 2 percent of patient care revenue from prior general distributions will be eligible to receive a payment to bring their combined payments to this threshold. Other providers will be eligible for add-on payments that consider a provider’s change in operating revenues from patient care, change in operating expenses, and payments already received through prior PRF distributions.
Providers will be able to apply for funds Oct. 5 through Nov. 6. This new allocation brings the total distribution of PRF payments to $143.9 billion of the total $175 billion available, plus more than $1 billion distributed on a claim-by-claim basis through the PRF COVID-19 uninsured program.
Visit the America’s Essential Hospitals coronavirus resource page for more information about the outbreak.
Contact Senior Director of Policy Erin O’Malley at eomalley@essentialhospitals.org or 202.585.0127 with questions.
