New reporting information is now available for healthcare providers who received funding from the Provider Relief Fund (PRF). The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has released revised reporting requirements that include updated information about expanding the amount of time that providers can report on the use of funds, as well as an extension of some key deadlines on when the funds can be spent. The two tables below help illustrate these new timelines, which are primarily driven by the period in which the funds were received.
Reporting Time Periods:
| Payment Received Period
(Payments Exceeding $10,000 in Aggregate Received) |
Reporting Time Period | |
| Period 1 | April 10, 2020 to June 30, 2020 | July 1, 2021 to September 30, 2021 |
| Period 2 | July 1, 2020 to December 31, 2020 | January 1, 2022 to March 31, 2022 |
| Period 3 | January 1, 2021 to June 30, 2021 | July 1, 2022 to September 30, 2022 |
| Period 4 | July 1, 2021 to December 31, 2021 | January 1, 2023 to March 31, 2023 |
Deadlines for Use of Funds:
| Payment Received Period | Deadline to Use Funds | |
| Period 1 | April 10, 2020 to June 30, 2020 | June 30, 2021 |
| Period 2 | July 1, 2020 to December 31, 2020 | December 31, 2021 |
| Period 3 | January 1, 2021 to June 30, 2021 | June 30, 2022 |
| Period 4 | July 1, 2021 to December 31, 2021 | December 31, 2022 |
The PRF Reporting Portal is now open for recipients who are required to report during Reporting Period 1. In addition, HHS has provided updated answers to many common questions. Some of the most notable are as follows:
- There will be no extensions for the reporting or spending deadlines identified above. HHS will not allow for providers to spend funds in subsequent periods if the amount received was not fully expended. This requirement has already impacted any Period 1 unspent funds.
- While providers will not be allowed to spend funds in the period not assigned, they do have the ability to carry forward any excess qualified expenses or lost revenue not able to be used in preceding periods. HHS defines these instances as “surplus†expenses or lost revenue. This clarification means that, in Period 1, if the amounts received from the Provider Relief Fund were less than eligible usages, the balance can be used in reporting during Periods 2, 3 or 4, if the provider also received payments in those periods.
- HHS has revised its guidance on lost revenue calculations. Previously, lost revenue was required to be calculated as a cumulative year-over-year loss, with the detail presented by quarter. HHS has now explained that lost revenue is to be calculated on a standalone quarter-by-quarter basis. Provider Relief Fund payments may be used to cover those quarters where patient care revenue losses occurred, as long as those losses were attributable to coronavirus. A Reporting User Guide has also been developed which further illustrates the three lost revenue options available.
Additional Guidance on the Provider Relief Fund:
HHS June 11, 2021 Revised Post Payment Notice of Reporting Requirements
Reporting Portal User Guide
Sample Data Entry Worksheets
For questions regarding the most recent Provider Relief Fund reporting requirements, please contact REDW Principal Chris Tyhurst or Audit & Consulting Senior Manager Claire Hilleary.
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