close-up of stethoscope on prescription pad

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced Sunday that it is reevaluating the amounts that will be paid under its Accelerated Payment Program and suspending its Advance Payment Program to Part B suppliers effective immediately.

A FierceHealthcare article Monday reported that CMS has approved more than 24,000 applications under the program and advanced more than $40 billion to Part B suppliers in the last several weeks. It approved 21,000 applications for accelerated payments, totaling almost $60 billion in payments to providers. Before COVID-19, the agency had only approved just more than 100 of such requests.

The advanced and accelerated payments are not grants, but instead payments that are required to be paid back within one year, officials said.  

CMS said the actions are being taken “in light of the $175 billion recently appropriated for healthcare provider relief payments,” referring to $100 billion allocated in the CARES Act as well as $75 billion allocated to providers through the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act. The Department of Health and Human Services is distributing that money through the Provider Relief Fund. 

“It remains to be seen, but it appears that the Accelerated Payments are winding down or going away for providers, including nursing homes, that received money from the first $30 billion from the Provider Relief Fund,” Terri Harris of Fox Rothschild LLP told McKnights.

A detailed description of the entire Provider Relief Fund program by HHS can be found here.

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