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The Department of Health and Human Services issued its Provider Relief Fund Reporting Requirements Saturday, specifying the data that providers who received more than $10,000 in relief fund payments will be required to submit as part of a post-payment reporting process. 

As part of the required reports, operators must report expenses related to coronavirus in two categories: general/administrative expenses and healthcare-related operating expenses. Only those expenses not reimbursed by other sources can be reported here. According to HHS, only operators that received between $10,000 and $499,999 in Provide Relief Fund payments can report their expenses in aggregate by category. Operators receiving $500,000 or more in payments must report their expenses in detail based on use. 

Within the general/administrative expense category, operators should separate out what was spent on mortgage/rent; insurance; personnel; fringe benefits, including “hero pay;” lease payments for new equipment or software; utilities/operations; and other. With the healthcare-related expenses, HHS recommends separating into supplies, including personal protective equipment, hand sanitizer and materials needed for patient screening; equipment such as ventilators or updates to HVAC systems; information technology; facility-related costs, such as the lease or purchase of permanent or temporary structures; and other.

If all Provider Relief Fund dollars received were not consumed by COVID-19 healthcare-related expenses, then operators also may provide information used to calculate lost revenues attributable to coronavirus, represented as a negative change in year-over-year net operating income from patient care-related sources. Once revenue information is provided, cost/expense impacts will be calculated based on a calendar year comparison of 2019 to 2020 healthcare expenses to determine net operating income, HHS said.

The organization also noted that operators that expended $750,000 or more in federal financial assistance in 2020 (including Provider Relief Fund payments and other federal financial assistance) also are subject to potential audit.

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