HHS Announces More Time for Hospitals to Apply for COVID-19 High-Impact Payments

As part of its work to support frontline healthcare providers fighting COVID-19, the Department of Health and Human Services has extended the deadline for hospitals to submit data that will inform how $10 billion is distributed to areas of high impact from COVID-19.

The deadline for hospitals to submit this information is now 3:00 PM Eastern Time, Saturday, April 25. Hospitals have received emails from HHS regarding how to submit the four necessary pieces of information: their Taxpayer Identification Number, their National Provider Identifier, their number of ICU beds as of April 10, and their number of COVID-19 admissions from January 1 to April 10.

The decision to extend the deadline was made in consultation with hospitals and hospital associations, and the extension will not delay the start of the distribution of these funds to high-impact areas, starting next week.

HHS and the entire Trump Administration are working to allocate and distribute the $100 billion appropriated for providers in the CARES Act as quickly as possible to those most in need.

On Wednesday, HHS announced that it would be allocating $10 billion to providers in areas suffering the most impact from COVID-19, alongside $50 billion to providers in general, $10 billion to rural providers, and $400 million to the Indian healthcare system.

More details on other targeted groups of hospitals and providers that will receive a share of the remaining funds are forthcoming.

HHS Secretary Alex Azar made the following comments as part of the Wednesday announcement of these new allocations: “We’re putting out all these funds as quickly as possible, as transparently as possible, to those who are suffering the most from this situation. The healthcare providers on the frontlines of the pandemic are heroic, and President Trump recognizes that every American healthcare provider has pitched in for this fight in some way. We will continue using every regulatory and payment flexibility we have to help providers continue doing their vital work until we’ve defeated this virus.”

For more information on the CARES Act Provider Relief Fund, visit hhs.gov/providerrelief.