Earlier this month, the HHS announced a CARES act Provider Relief Fund distribution for eligible providers that participate in state Medicaid and CHIP programs and have not yet received a payment from the Provider Relief Fund General Distribution. Providers who believe they may be eligible should take action now. Action and application are required in order to receive these funds!

Any providers that did not receive any of the automatic general distribution payments in recent months, and who have billed Medicaid or Children’s Health Insurance Program in 2018 or 2019 should strongly consider applying.

The eligibility for this payment and previous payments are detailed at this HHS site. The eligibility for this  upcoming distribution is as follows:

• The provider must not have received payment from the previous general distributions, which were automatic payments that we posted about here.
• The provider must have directly billed Medicaid/CHIP programs during the period from January 1, 2018 to December 31, 2019, or own (currently) an included subsidiary that has billed Medicaid in the same period.
• The provider must have filed a federal tax return for 2017, 2018, or 2019 or be exempt from filing requirements
• If the provider is applying as an individual, they must have reported business revenue (Form 1040, Schedule C, Line 1) from providing patient care
• The provider must have provided patient care after Jan 31st, 2020
• The provider must not have permanently ceased providing patient care

Providers who believe they are eligible can apply here. Before applying, the HHS recommends that applicants read the materials and instructions with respect to the distribution and eligibility, which can be found here. The instructions reiterate the above summarized requirements, and give detailed instructions for completing the application form. The application form can be found here. It is important to note that alongside the application, per the instructions, the applicant must submit:

• The applicant’s tax return for 2017, 2018, or 2019
• The applicant’s Employer’s Quarterly Federal Tax return for Q1 2020 (IRS Form 941)
• The applicant’s Employer’s Annual Federal Unemployment (FUTA) tax return (IRS Form 940)
• The applicant’s FTE worksheet, provided by the HHS, here.

If required based on the application, the applicant’s gross revenue worksheet, provided by the HHS, [NOTE – as of writing this article, the link provided by the HSS for this worksheet does not work and no alternative is provided] This requirement will generally apply to any provider who acquired or disposed of included subsidiaries during the period of the tax return that is being reported.

The bottom line is that if you believe you may be eligible, you should read the instructions and begin the application process. If applying, you should likely involve your accountant to secure the applicable payroll and income tax filings. Given the relatively more complex nature of these relief payments, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) and the HSS are hosting a webcast on this Tuesday, June 23rd, which can be registered for here.