Biden administration seeks new funding for COVID provider reimbursement program
The administration said it will stop accepting claims for treatment and testing for uninsured people this week.
A federal program that reimburses providers for COVID-related care for the uninsured is running out of funds and will expire by the end of April. The Biden administration and hospitals are urging lawmakers to approve more funding for the program, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Hospitals that have relied on the funding say they are still feeling the financial squeeze of the pandemic and that more funding is needed for the program.
“We support the administration’s request for additional funding to ensure that the health care system has the resources it needs to continue to care for their patients, especially as we continue to manage COVID-19 in communities across the nation,” the American Hospital Association said.
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The White House earlier this month pushed for $22.5 billion in additional funding to pay for a range of programs, including the provider-relief funds and replenishing supplies of vaccines and antibody drugs. Congressional Republicans want to redirect funds that states haven’t yet spent, but a number of House Democrats have balked at using money promised to states.
The administration said it will stop accepting claims for treatment and testing for uninsured people this week, and the deadline for claims for administering vaccines is in two weeks. After that, the medical bills for uninsured COVID patients will depend on each hospital’s financial-aid policy and their prices, both of which can vary widely among hospitals.
The provider-relief fund, which was created to help hospitals and community health centers seeing decreased revenue or increased expenses because of the pandemic, was launched with more than $100 billion in 2020, and later legislation added about $78 billion. All of the money in the provider-relief fund has been allocated, although it has not all been paid out, according to the Department of Health and Human Services’ Health Resources and Services Administration.
About 50,000 hospitals, doctors and other providers have submitted claims requesting funding from the uninsured program since April 2020. The program bars providers who receive the funding from billing the uninsured for the difference between the money they get and the costs of treatment, a practice known as balance billing. A total of about $20 billion from the relief fund has helped cover providers’ costs for administering vaccines, testing and treatment for people without health coverage.
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