HBS Update - September 13, 2021
Additional PRF Funding Announced - Portal to Open on September 29, 2021
September 13, 2021
Hello Everyone,
First thank you for what you are doing and stay safe. There is a lot of new information for Rural Health Clinics that will impact you over the next few months. First. the Biden-Harris Administration announced on Friday that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), is making $25.5 billion in new funding available for health care providers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. This funding includes $8.5 billion in American Rescue Plan (ARP) resources for providers who serve rural Medicaid, Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), or Medicare patients, and an additional $17 billion for Provider Relief Fund (PRF) Phase 4 for a broad range of providers who can document revenue loss and expenses associated with the pandemic. The application portal will open on September 29, 2021. To find out more about funding we have provided the following links.
HRSA is distributing $25.5 billion in additional provider relief funds, via the $17 billion Provider Relief Fund Phase 4 General Distribution and the $8.5 billion ARP Rural Distribution.
Provider Relief Fund Phase 3: Payment Calculation Methodology
Information on the application process and eligibility requirements
The HHS Office of Intergovernmental and External Affairs, in partnership with Health Resources and Services Administration, invites you to join us on Wednesday, September 15 at 4:30 PM ET for a stakeholder briefing to discuss HRSA's announcement today on Provider Relief Funds. The stakeholder briefing will overview key policy changes, available funding, and how to apply.
The stakeholder briefing will include remarks from:
Acting Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Diana Espinosa
HHS Director of the Office of Intergovernmental and External Affairs Marvin Figueroa
Please register for the Webinar at this link:
https://www.zoomgov.com/webinar/register/WN_XCrhGRu0TUGpwzP69LkGLA
To apply-
Review eligibility information posted on the PRF Future Payments web page and additional detail will be added prior to September 29.
Search the Rural Health Grants Eligibility Analyzer to see what areas qualify as "rural" for the ARP rural payments.
Gather supporting documentation, such as most recent tax documents and financial statements for the second half of calendar year (CY) 2020 and the first quarter of CY 2021
HHS Announces a 60-day Grace Period For filing PRF FunD Reports
Within the HHS Press Release is the following statement regarding a 60-day grace period regarding the filing of the PRF report that is due September 30, 2021. The grace period will allow RHCs to file the reports until November 30, 2021 without being considered noncompliant.
Additionally, in light of the challenges providers across the country are facing due to recent natural disasters and the Delta variant, HHS is announcing today a final 60-day grace period to help providers come into compliance with their PRF Reporting requirements if they fail to meet the deadline on September 30, 2021, for the first PRF Reporting Time Period. While the deadlines to use funds and the Reporting Time Period will not change, HHS will not initiate collection activities or similar enforcement actions for noncompliant providers during this grace period.
Provider Relief Fund Reporting for RHCs Update - Nearing the Finish Line Webinar
In this webinar Mark Lynn, CPA (inactive), CRRHP, CCRS will update Rural Health Clinics on the Provider Relief Fund Reporting portal for RHCs and how to use the portal to report Provider Relief Funds. We will go over FAQs and resources to help RHCs report uses of Provider Relief Funds and lost revenues. There will be a 45 minute presentation and time for questions. The session will be recorded and available for viewing on the HBS Youtube channel and a link will be available at http://www.ruralhealthclinic.com/covid19 and in the Rural Health Clinic Information Exchange Facebook Group. In the meantime, RHCs should download the PRF Worksheet Excel Spreadsheet from https://prfreporting.hrsa.gov/s/ and begin accumulating information so they are ready to submit the report to HRSA by September 30, 2021.
Please register for Provider Relief Fund Reporting for RHCs Update - Nearing the Finish Line on Sep 15, 2021 1:15 PM EDT at:
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/5316315059455883020
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.
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Mandated Covid-19 Vaccines for RHCs
Patty Harper from InQuiseek Consulting posted the following information in the Rural Health Clinic Information Exchange Facebook website. From what we understand now, ALL CMS-certified healthcare facilities will be subject to the vaccine mandate published yesterday by the White House. This would include Rural Health Clinics. Sometimes we forget that RHCs are considered one of the types of certified facilities.
This is what Nathan Baugh, Director of Legislative Affairs for NARHC, wrote in an email earlier today:
"There will be an interim final rule published in October. I expect details regarding the effective date, if there are any exceptions, and what the penalty is for non-compliance to be published in that interim final rule. We will provide the RHC community with an update as soon as the interim final rule is out.
This is from a CMS email:
The Biden-Harris Administration will require COVID-19 vaccination of staff within all Medicare and Medicaid-certified facilities to protect both them and patients from the virus and its more contagious Delta variant. Facilities across the country should make efforts now to get health care staff vaccinated to make sure they are in compliance when the rule takes effect."
https://www.whitehouse.gov/covidplan/
States with low vaccination rates are having their shipments of life-saving monoclonal antibody treatments reduced
“Due to an increase in demand in states with low vaccination rates, the federal government will be limiting the amount of monoclonal antibody shipments to Alabama and some other states.
The life-saving COVID-19 treatment that can reduce the chance of hospitalization for someone with COVID-19 by 70 percent is in great demand, Alabama’s State Health Officer Dr. Scott Harris explained during a Facebook Live discussion hosted by the Medical Association of the State of Alabama.
“We got a call this past Friday with the HHS, who let us know that Alabama and some other states are going to be on an allocation,” Harris said, referring to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. “We don’t think providers are going to be able to order as much as they would like.”
Here is the source:
