HHS Issues Additional Guidance Regarding CARES Act Provider Relief Fund Reporting

HHS's most recent guidance specifies the deadlines within which health care providers must use and report on Provider Relief Fund payments and provides much needed additional clarification concerning how and when health care providers can use such payments to offset permissible health care-related expenses and lost revenues attributable to coronavirus.

In the CARES Act that became law on March 27, 2020, $100 billion was set aside for "health care-related expenses or lost revenues that are attributable" to the COVID-19 pandemic. Commonly referred to as the "Provider Relief Fund," this $100 billion fund was supplemented with an additional $75 billion pursuant to the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act and another $3 billion pursuant to the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2021. The stated purpose of the Provider Relief Fund (PRF) is to address the economic harm suffered by health care providers that have