HHS Announces Significant Updates to Provider Relief Fund Reporting Requirements

On June 11, 2021, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released updated reporting requirements for recipients of Provider Relief Fund (PRF) payments.  With this announcement, HHS expands the amount of time providers will have to report information and extends key deadlines for expending PRF payments for recipients who received payments after June 30, 2020. Highlights of the updated reporting requirements include:

    • The period of availability of funds is based on the date the payment is received (rather than requiring all payments be used by June 30, 2021, regardless of when they were received).

    • Recipients are required to report for each Payment Received Period in which they received one or more payments exceeding, in the aggregate, $10,000 (rather than $10,000 cumulatively across all PRF payments).

    • Recipients will have a 90-day period to complete reporting (rather than a 30-day reporting period).

    • The reporting requirements are now applicable to recipients of the Skilled Nursing Facility and Nursing Home Infection Control Distribution in addition to General and other Targeted Distributions.

    • The PRF Reporting Portal will open for providers to start submitting information on July 1, 2021.

HHS also mentions that the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) will hold webinars for Reporting Entities and other interested stakeholders, which will include opportunities for question and answer sessions. HRSA will update and issue additional Frequently Asked Questions and a detailed PRF Reporting Portal User Guide to provide greater clarity about the reporting process.