Some providers who received CARES Act Provider Relief Fund (PRF) payments during the COVID-19 public health emergency now have more time to use the funds and complete required reporting based on changes announced by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) earlier this week.
“From the beginning of this pandemic, health care providers have gone above and beyond to care for their patients in extremely difficult circumstances that caused significant financial hardship,” said HRSA Acting Administrator Diana Espinosa. “These updated requirements reflect our focus on giving providers equitable amounts of time for use of these funds, maintaining effective safeguards for taxpayer dollars, and incorporating feedback from providers requesting more flexibility and clarity about PRF reporting.”
The revised reporting requirements affect providers who received one or more payments totalling more than $10,000 during a single Payment Received Period. Previous guidelines required providers to complete reporting only if they received payments totalling $10,000 across all Payment Received Periods.
Providers also now have varying deadlines to use and report on PRF payments based on when they were received rather than the previous deadline of June 30, 2021, regardless of when they were received. The June 30, 2021, deadline now applies only to payments received through June 30, 2020.
The new guidelines also allow for a 90-day reporting window, rather than the 30 days previously allotted. That means providers who received funds through June 30, 2020, now have from July 1, 2021, through September 30, 2021, to report on the use of those funds.
According to HHS, the PRF Reporting Portal will open July 1, 2021, though providers can begin setting up Portal accounts now. Once they are registered in the reporting portal, providers will receive updates closer to the official opening of the portal for their reporting submissions.
Here is a look at all the deadlines established by this latest guidance, which supersedes the Post-Payment Notice of Reporting Requirements released on January 15, 2021.
| Payment Received Period (Payments Exceeding $10,000 in Aggregate Received) | Deadline to Use Funds | Reporting Time Period | |
| Period 1 | From April 10, 2020 to June 30, 2020 | June 30, 2021 | July 1 to September 30, 2021 |
| Period 2 | From July 1, 2020 to December 31, 2020 | December 31, 2021 | January 1 to March 31, 2022 |
| Period 3 | From January 1, 2021 to June 30, 2021 | June 30, 2022 | July 1 to September 30, 2022 |
| Period 4 | From July 1, 2021 to December 31, 2021 | December 31, 2022 | January 1 to March 31, 2023 |
These reporting requirements apply to providers who received funds from the PRF General Distributions, Targeted Distributions, and/or Skilled Nursing Facility and Nursing Home Infection Control Distributions. They do not apply to the Rural Health Clinic COVID-19 Testing Program, the HRSA COVID-19 Uninsured Program, or the HRSA COVID-19 Coverage Assistance Fund.
For more information, review the following:
- CARES Act Provider Relief Fund: For Providers webpage
- HHS Issues Revised Notice of Reporting Requirements and Reporting Timeline for Recipients of Provider Relief Fund Payments
- Provider Relief Fund General and Targeted Distribution: Post-Payment Notice of Reporting Requirements — June 11, 2021
- HRSA Provider Relief Fund Reporting Portal
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