Last week, HHS announced that it will now accept additional applicants for the Provider Relief Fund Phase 2 General Distribution. All eligible providers will only receive funding of up to 2 percent of their reported total revenue from patient care. Importantly, providers who received a payment under Phase 1 of the General Distribution are no longer prohibited from submitting an application under Phase 2.
To be eligible to apply, the applicant must satisfy one of the following criteria:
- Have billed Medicare fee-for-service during the period of January 1, 2019 through Dec. 31, 2019;
- Be a Medicare Part A provider that experienced a change in ownership and billed Medicare fee-for-service in 2019 or 2020 that prevented the otherwise eligible provider from receiving Phase 1 General Distribution payment;
- Have billed Medicaid/CHIP programs or Medicaid managed care plans for health-related services between January 1, 2018 through December 31, 2019;
- Have billed a health insurance company for oral healthcare-related services as a dental service provider; or
- Be a licensed dental service provider who does not accept insurance and has billed patients for oral healthcare-related services.
Additionally, to be eligible to apply, the applicant must meet all of the following requirements:
- Filed a federal income tax return for fiscal years 2017, 2018, 2019; or be exempt from filing a return;
- Provided patient care after January 31, 2020;
- Did not permanently cease providing patient care directly or indirectly;
- Did not receive a previous General Distribution payment totaling approximately 2 percent of annual patient revenue; and
- For individuals, reported on Form 1040 (or other tax form) gross receipts or sales from providing patient care.
Eligible providers must submit their application by August 28, 2020. More information on the Phase 2 General Distribution is available here.
