PRB Provider Relief Fund General Information FAQ

The Terms and Conditions for Phase 4 required that recipients that received payments greater than $10,000 notify HHS during the applicable Reporting Time Period of any mergers with or acquisitions of any other health care provider that occurred within the relevant Payment Received Period. HRSA considered changes in ownership, mergers/acquisitions, and consolidations to be reportable events.

(Added 12/9/2021)

If a Reporting Entity that received a Phase 4 General Distribution payment underwent a merger or acquisition during the Payment Received Period, as described in the Post-Payment Notice of Reporting Requirements (PDF), the Reporting Entity must report the merger or acquisition during the applicable Reporting Time Period.

(Updated 12/9/2021)

If a Reporting Entity that received a Phase 4 General payment indicates when they report on the use of funds that they have undergone a merger or acquisition during the applicable Payment Received Period, this information will be a component that is factored into whether an entity is audited.

(Updated 12/9/2021)

The Provider Relief Fund Terms and Conditions required that recipients be able to demonstrate that lost revenues or expenses attributable to coronavirus, excluding expenses and losses that have been reimbursed from other sources or that other sources are obligated to reimburse, meet or exceed total payments from the Provider Relief Fund. Provider Relief Fund payment amounts that have not been fully expended on health care expenses or lost revenues attributable to coronavirus by the deadline to use funds that corresponds to the Payment Received Period must be returned to HHS. The Provider Relief Fund Terms and Conditions and applicable legal requirements authorized HHS to audit Provider Relief Fund recipients now or in the future to ensure that program requirements are met. Provider Relief Fund payments that were made incorrectly, or exceed lost revenues or expenses due to coronavirus, or do not otherwise meet applicable legal and program requirements must be returned to HHS, and HHS is authorized to recover these funds.

(Updated 10/20/2021)

Providers that had Provider Relief Fund payments that they cannot expend on allowable expenses or lost revenues by the deadline to use funds that corresponds to the Payment Received Period, as outlined in the Post-Payment Notice of Reporting Requirements, will return this money to HHS. The Provider Relief Fund Terms and Conditions and legal requirements authorize HHS to audit Provider Relief Fund recipients now or in the future to ensure that program requirements are met. HHS is authorized to recover any Provider Relief Fund amounts that were made incorrectly or exceed lost revenues or expenses due to coronavirus, or do not otherwise meet applicable legal and program requirements.

(Updated 10/20/2021)

Providers receiving payments from the Provider Relief Fund must comply with the Terms and Conditions and applicable legal and program requirements. Failure by a provider that received a payment to comply with any term or condition can result in action by HHS to recover some or all of the payment. Per the Terms and Conditions, all recipients were required to submit documents to substantiate that these funds were used for health care-related expenses or lost revenues attributable to coronavirus, and that those expenses or lost revenues were not reimbursed from other sources and other sources were not obligated to reimburse them. HHS monitored the funds distributed, and oversaw payments to ensure that Federal dollars were used in accordance with applicable legal and program requirements. In addition, the HHS Office of the Inspector General fights fraud, waste and abuse in HHS programs, and may review these payments.

(Updated 10/20/2021)

If HHS identified a payment made incorrectly, HHS recovered the amount paid incorrectly or overpaid. If a provider received a payment that was greater than expected and believed the payment was made incorrectly, the provider should contact the Provider Support Line at (866) 569-3522 (for TYY, dial 711) and seek clarification.

(Updated 10/14/2021)

To streamline the process and minimize provider burden, this information was collected in the Provider Relief Fund Reporting Portal as part of the regular reporting process. Additional reporting information will be forthcoming for impacted providers.

(Added 9/29/2021)

The provider must return any unused funds to the government within 30 calendar days after the end of the applicable Reporting Time Period or any associated grace period.

(Updated 9/29/2021)

Yes. PRF and ARP Rural recipients must use payments for eligible expenses, including services rendered during the period of availability, as outlined in Table 1 below. PRF and ARP Rural recipients may also use payments for lost revenues attributable to COVID-19 incurred within the period of availability, but only up to June 30, 2023, the end of the quarter in which the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency ends.

The period of availability of funds was based on the date the payment was received. The payment was received on the deposit date for automated clearing house (ACH) payments or the check cashed date. Providers must follow their basis of accounting (e.g., cash, accrual, or modified accrual) to determine expenses.

Provider Relief Fund recipients must use payments only for eligible expenses, including services rendered, and lost revenues attributable to coronavirus, incurred by the end of the Period of Availability that corresponded to the Payment Received Period. Providers were required to maintain supporting documentation that demonstrated that costs were incurred during the Period of Availability, as required under the Terms and Conditions. However, providers were not required to submit that documentation when reporting. Providers must promptly submit copies of such supporting documentation upon the request of the Secretary of HHS. Examples of costs incurred for an entity using accrual accounting, during the Period of Availability include:

• Services that were received
• Renovation or construction that was completed
• Tangible property ordered, but need not have been delivered

For purchases of tangible items made using PRF payments, the purchase did not need to be in the provider’s possession (i.e., back ordered PPE, ambulance, etc.) to be considered an eligible expense but the costs must have been incurred by the end of the Period of Availability. Providers must follow their basis of accounting (e.g., cash, accrual, or modified accrual) to determine expenses. For projects that are a bundle of services and purchases of tangible items that cannot be separated, such as capital projects, construction projects, or alteration and renovation projects, the project costs cannot be reimbursed using Provider Relief Fund payments unless the project was fully completed by the end of Period of Availability associated with the Payment Received Period.

Recipients may use payments for eligible expenses or lost revenues incurred prior to receipt of those payments (i.e., pre-award costs) so long as they were to prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus. However, HHS expects it would be highly unusual for providers to have incurred eligible expenses or lost revenues before January 1, 2020. Additionally, the opportunity to apply Provider Relief Fund payments (excluding the Nursing Home Infection Control Distribution) and ARP Rural payments for lost revenues will be available up to June 30, 2023, the end of the quarter in which the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency ends.

HHS reserves the right to audit Provider Relief Fund recipients now or in the future, and may pursue collection activity to recover any Provider Relief Fund payment amounts that have not been supported by documentation or payments not used in a manner consistent with program requirements or applicable law. All payment recipients must have attested to the Terms and Conditions, which required maintaining documentation to substantiate that these funds were used for health care-related expenses or lost revenues attributable to coronavirus.

(Updated 2/16/2024)

No, this was not a permissible use of Provider Relief Fund payments.

(Added 10/9/2020)

All recipients receiving payments under the Provider Relief Fund will be required to comply with the Terms and Conditions. Some Terms and Conditions relate to the provider's use of the funds, and thus they apply until the provider has exhausted these funds.  Other Terms and Conditions apply to a longer time period, for example, regarding maintaining all records pertaining to expenditures under the Provider Relief Fund payment for three years from the date of the final expenditure.

(Added 6/19/2020)

Unless the payment was associated with specific claims for reimbursement for COVID-19 testing or treatment provided on or after February 4, 2020 to uninsured patients, under the Terms and Conditions associated with payment, providers were eligible only if they provided after January 31, 2020, diagnoses, testing or care for individuals with possible or actual cases of COVID-19. HHS broadly viewed every patient as a possible case of COVID-19.

Not every possible case of COVID-19 was a presumptive case of COVID 19.

(Added 5/6/2020)

The Terms and Conditions stated that none of the funds appropriated in this title shall be used to pay the salary of an individual, through a grant or other mechanism, at a rate in excess of Executive Level II. The salary limitation was based upon the Executive Level II of the Federal Executive Pay Scale. Effective January 5, 2020, the Executive Level II salary is $197,300. For the purposes of the salary limitation, the direct salary was exclusive of fringe benefits and indirect costs. The limitation only applied to the rate of pay charged to Provider Relief Fund payments and other HHS awards. An organization who received Provider Relief Fund payments may pay an individual’s salary amount in excess of the salary cap with non-federal funds.

(Added 5/29/2020)