PRB Provider Relief Fund General Information FAQ

Provider Relief Fund payments were disbursed via both “General” and “Targeted” Distributions.

To have been eligible for the General Distribution, a provider must have billed Medicare fee-for-service in 2019, been a known Medicaid and CHIP or dental provider and provided after January 31, 2020 diagnoses, testing, or care for individuals with possible or actual cases of COVID-19. HHS broadly views every patient as a possible case of COVID-19.

A description of the eligibility for the announced Targeted Distributions can be found here.

All providers retaining funds must have signed an attestation and accepted the Terms and Conditions associated with payment.

Was this a loan or a grant that I will need to pay back?

Retention and use of these funds are subject to certain terms and conditions. If these terms and conditions are met, payments do not need to be repaid at a later date. These Terms and Conditions can be found here.

Are Provider Relief Fund recipients required to notify HRSA if they have filed a bankruptcy petition?

Yes. Provider Relief Fund recipients must immediately notify HRSA about their bankruptcy petition or involvement in a bankruptcy proceeding so that the Agency may take the appropriate steps. When notifying HRSA about a bankruptcy, please include the name that the bankruptcy is filed under, the docket number, and the district where the bankruptcy is filed. You must submit this information to PRFbankruptcy@hrsa.gov. If a Provider Relief Fund recipient has filed a bankruptcy petition or is involved in a bankruptcy proceeding, federal financial obligations will be resolved in accordance with the applicable bankruptcy process, the Bankruptcy Code, and applicable non-bankruptcy federal law.

What was the Assistance Listing (AL) (formerly the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA)) number for the Provider Relief Fund program?

The AL number is 93.498.

Why would a provider not have been eligible for a General or Targeted Distribution Provider Relief Fund payment?

In order to be eligible for a payment under the Provider Relief Fund, a provider must have met the eligibility criteria for the distribution and complied with the Terms and Conditions for any previously received Provider Relief Fund payments. Additionally, a provider must not have been terminated from participation in Medicare or precluded from receiving payment through Medicare Advantage or Part D; must not have been excluded from participation in Medicare, Medicaid, and other Federal health care programs; and must not have had Medicare billing privileges revoked as determined by either the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services or the HHS Office of Inspector General in order to have been eligible to receive a payment under the Provider Relief Fund.

How should providers classify the Provider Relief Fund payments in terms of revenue type for cost reports?

Please refer to CMS FAQs - PDF (PDF - 1 MB) on how Provider Relief Fund payments should be reported on cost reports.

How can a healthcare provider find more information on the status of their Provider Relief Fund payment or application?

Providers should contact the Provider Support Line at 866-569-3522 (for TTY, dial 711), if they have questions about the status of their payment or application. When calling, providers should have ready the last four digits of the recipient's or applicant's Tax Identification Number (TIN), the name of the recipient or applicant as it appears on the most recent tax filing, the mailing address for the recipient or applicant as it appears on the most recent tax filing, and the application number (begins with either "DS" or "CR") if they have submitted an application in the Provider Relief Fund Payment Portal.

Are hospitals and health systems in all states and territories eligible for a Provider Relief Fund payment?

Yes. Hospitals and health systems in all states and territories eligible for Provider Relief Fund payments.
(Updated 8/4/2020)

Can providers who have ceased operation due to the COVID-19 pandemic still receive this funding?

If a provider ceased operation as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, they are still eligible to receive Provider Relief Fund payments so long as they provided on or after January 31, 2020, diagnoses, testing, or care for individuals with possible or actual cases of COVID-19. HHS broadly views every patient as a possible case of COVID-19, therefore, care does not have to be specific to treating COVID-19. Recipients of funding must have complied with the Terms and Conditions related to permissible uses of Provider Relief Fund payments.

In addition, if the reporting entity has ceased operation, they will still be responsible for reporting on funds received. Reporting entities must also indicate whether their business has ceased operation. If they have ceased operation, they will be required to enter the business cease date and indicate whether the business was operational on 01/01/2020.

Were Provider Relief funds accessible in whole or in part to bankruptcy creditors and other creditors in active litigation?

Payments from the Provider Relief Fund shall not have been subject to the claims of the provider’s creditors and providers were limited in their ability to transfer Provider Relief Fund payments to their creditors. A provider may have utilized Provider Relief Fund payments to satisfy creditors’ claims, but only to the extent that such claims constitute eligible health care related expenses and lost revenues attributable to coronavirus and were made to prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus, as set forth under the Terms and Conditions.

May a health care provider that received a payment from the Provider Relief Fund exclude this payment from gross income as a qualified disaster relief payment under section 139 of the Internal Revenue Code (Code)?

No. A payment to a business, even if the business is a sole proprietorship, does not qualify as a qualified disaster relief payment under section 139. The payment from the Provider Relief Fund was includible in gross income under section 61 of the Code. For more information, visit the Internal Revenue Services' website.

Was a tax-exempt health care provider subject to tax on a payment it received from the Provider Relief Fund?

Generally, no. A health care provider that was described in section 501(c) of the Code is exempt from federal income taxation under section 501(a). Nonetheless, a payment received by a tax-exempt health care provider from the Provider Relief Fund may be subject to tax under section 511 if the payment reimbursed the provider for expenses or lost revenue attributable to an unrelated trade or business as defined in section 513. For more information, visit the Internal Revenue Services' website.

Will I receive a Form 1099?

Yes, you will receive a Form 1099 if you received and retained within the calendar year 2023 a total net payment from either or both of the Provider Relief Fund and/or COVID-19 Claims Reimbursement to Health Care Providers and Facilities for Testing, Treatment, and Vaccine Administration for the Uninsured that is in excess of $600.

When will my Form 1099 be available?

Form 1099s will be mailed by January 31, 2024. If you have previously established an account with UnitedHealth Group and elected to receive electronic copies of documents and notices, you will not receive a mailed copy.

Who do I contact if I have questions regarding my Form 1099?

Please call the Provider Support Line 866-569-3522 (for TTY, dial 711) for any questions you may have regarding your Form 1099. If you have questions about filing your taxes generally, seek guidance from your accountant and/or tax professional.

Which sections of 45 CFR 75 – UNIFORM ADMINISTRATIVE REQUIREMENTS, COST PRINCIPLES, AND AUDIT REQUIREMENTS FOR HHS AWARDS are applicable to the General and Targeted Distributions of the Provider Relief Fund?

Recipients (both non-federal entities and commercial organizations) of the General and Targeted Distributions of the Provider Relief Fund are subject to 45 CFR 75 Subpart A (Acronyms and Definitions) and B (General Provisions), subsections §75.303 (Internal Controls), and §75.351-.353 (Subrecipient Monitoring and Management), and Subpart F (Audit Requirements). In addition, the terms and conditions of the PRF payments incorporate by reference the obligation of recipients to comply with the requirements to maintain appropriate financial systems at §75.302 (Financial management and standards for financial management systems) and the requirements for record retention and access at §75.361 through §75.365 (Record Retention and Access).

Rejecting Payments

How can a provider return unused Provider Relief Fund payments that it has partially spent?

Providers that have Provider Relief Fund payments that they cannot expend on allowable expenses or lost revenues attributable to coronavirus by the Period of Availability that corresponds to the Payment Received Period were required to return such funds to the federal government.

Please note regarding the return of unused funds: The instructions on ‘PRF Return of Unused Funds Portal’ explain the two-part process to return funds. There may be a delay in processing the return, especially if repaying by paper check. If you have additional questions, please call the Provider Support Line at (866) 569-3522 (for TTY, dial 711).

To return any unused funds, use the Return Unused PRF Funds Portal. Instructions for returning any unused funds.

The Provider Relief Fund Terms and Conditions and applicable laws authorized HHS to audit Provider Relief Fund recipients now or in the future to ensure that program requirements are/were met. HHS is authorized to recover any Provider Relief Fund payment amounts that were made in error, exceed lost revenue or expenses due to coronavirus, or do not otherwise meet applicable legal and program requirements.

If a provider returned a Provider Relief Fund payment to HHS, must it also return any accrued interest on the payment?

Yes, for Provider Relief Fund payments that were held in an interest-bearing account, the provider must return the accrued interest associated with the amount being returned to HHS. However, if the funds were not held in an interest-bearing account, there is no obligation for the provider to return any additional amount other than the Provider Relief fund payment being returned to HHS. HHS reserves the right to audit Provider Relief Fund recipients in the future to ensure that payments that were held in an interest-bearing account were subsequently returned with accrued interest.

To return accrued interest, visit pay.gov. On the webpage, locate "Find an agency," and select "Health and Human Services (HHS) Program Support Center HQ." Verify that the description is "PSC HQ Payment" and form number is "HHSHQ," then click continue. You will then need to complete the following steps:
Step 1: Preview the form, then click "Continue."
Step 2: Indicate whether you are completing on behalf of an individual or business and enter the following information.
Business Name Field: Legal name of organization that received the payment
Invoice or Ticket Number Field: "HHS-COVID-Interest"
Contract/Agreement Number Field: Tax Identification Number (TIN) of organization or provider that received the payment
Point of contact: Business contact information
Payment Amount: (The payment amount must match the interest earned on the payment received.)
Step 3: Verify the interest return payment amount and select to pay by ACH or debit/credit card, then select "Continue."
Step 4: Enter the required information to complete the payment, then select "Review and Submit."
Step 5: Ensure that all information is correct and select "Submit."

If a provider rejected a payment and the associated Terms and Conditions in the attestation portal but decided to keep the funds after rejecting it in the attestation portal, what should the provider have done in order to report on the use of funds kept?

Providers who rejected one or more Provider Relief Fund and/or ARP Rural payments exceeding $10,000, in aggregate, and kept the funds were required to report on these funds during the applicable reporting period per the Terms and Conditions associated with the payment(s). In order to be able to report on the use of funds, a provider must have contacted the Provider Support Line at (866) 569-3522 (for TTY, dial 711) to request a change to their attestation from “rejected” to “accepted.” Once the attestation status has been updated in the attestation portal, the Provider Relief Fund Reporting Portal will subsequently be updated to accurately reflect the kept payment that the provider was required to report on during the applicable reporting period.

How can I return a payment I received under the Provider Relief Fund?

If you received an invoice from the U.S. Department of Treasury Centralized Receivables Service or Cross-Servicing, please refer to the payment options found in your invoice. For more information visit the Returning Funds page.

The following instructions are to return the full payment amount:

If the provider received payment via electronic transfer, the provider needs to contact their financial institution and ask the institution to initiate a “R23 - Credit Entry Refused by Receiver" code on the original Automated Clearing House (ACH) transaction.

If a provider was paid via paper check, the provider should have destroyed the check if it is not deposited or mail a paper check to UnitedHealth Group with notification of their request to return the funds. Mail a refund check for the full amount payable to “UnitedHealth Group” to the address below.

UnitedHealth Group
Attention: Provider Relief Fund
PO Box 31376
Salt Lake City, UT 84131-0376

Returning the payment in full or not depositing the payment received by paper check within 90 days without taking further action in the attestation portal is considered a de facto rejection of the terms and conditions associated with the payment.

The following instructions were to return a partial payment amount:

Entities can return partial payments via Pay.gov. For more information on this process, please review the instructions.

If your organization has been referred for debt collection, refer to the payment options found in your invoice from the U.S. Department of Treasury Centralized Receivables Service (CRS), Centralized Receivables Service. Do not return payments to HRSA or United Health Group via pay.gov or check.

If a provider rejected the payment in the attestation portal but did not return the payment within 15 calendar days, was the provider still subject to the Terms and Conditions?

Yes. If the provider did not return the payment within 15 calendar days of rejecting the payment in the attestation portal, the provider would have been considered to have accepted the payment and must abide by the Terms and Conditions associated with the distribution. The government may pursue collection activity to collect the unreturned payment.

How should a provider return a payment it received via check?

If the provider received a payment via check and had not yet deposited it, destroy, shred, or securely dispose of it. If the provider had already deposited the check, mail a refund check for the full amount, payable to “UnitedHealth Group” to the address below via United States Postal Service (USPS); mailing services such as FedEx and UPS cannot be used with this PO box. Please list the check number from the original Provider Relief Fund check in the memo. Mail a refund check for the full amount payable to “UnitedHealth Group” to the address below.

UnitedHealth Group
Attention: Provider Relief Fund
PO Box 31376
Salt Lake City, UT 84131-0376

How did a provider who received an electronic payment return funding if their financial institution did not allow them to return the payment electronically?

Contact UnitedHealth Group's Provider Support Line at (866) 569-3522 (for TTY, dial 711).

If I changed my mind after I rejected a Provider Relief Fund payment through one of the attestation portals and returned the payment, can I receive a new payment?

No, HHS will not issue a new payment to a provider that received and then subsequently rejected and returned the original payment. The provider may be considered for future distributions if it meets the eligibility criteria for that distribution.

Provider Relief Fund Terms and Conditions

What financial transactions are Reporting Entities required to report in order to satisfy the requirement in the Terms and Conditions for Phase 4 that recipients must notify HHS of a merger with or acquisition of any other health care provider during the Payment Received Period within the Reporting Time Period?

The Terms and Conditions for Phase 4 required that recipients that received payments greater than $10,000 notify HHS during the applicable Reporting Time Period of any mergers with or acquisitions of any other health care provider that occurred within the relevant Payment Received Period. HRSA considered changes in ownership, mergers/acquisitions, and consolidations to be reportable events.

If a merger or acquisition was planned before receiving Phase 4 General Distribution payments, will health care providers still need to report these activities?

If a Reporting Entity that received a Phase 4 General Distribution payment underwent a merger or acquisition during the Payment Received Period, as described in the Post-Payment Notice of Reporting Requirements (PDF) , the Reporting Entity must report the merger or acquisition during the applicable Reporting Time Period.

What type of review will HRSA do after a merger or acquisition has been reported by recipients of a Phase 4 General Distribution payment?

If a Reporting Entity that received a Phase 4 General payment indicates when they report on the use of funds that they have undergone a merger or acquisition during the applicable Payment Received Period, this information will be a component that is factored into whether an entity is audited.

Does HHS intend to recover any payments made to providers not associated with specific claims for reimbursement, such as the General or Targeted Distribution payments?

The Provider Relief Fund Terms and Conditions required that recipients be able to demonstrate that lost revenues or expenses attributable to coronavirus, excluding expenses and losses that have been reimbursed from other sources or that other sources are obligated to reimburse, meet or exceed total payments from the Provider Relief Fund. Provider Relief Fund payment amounts that have not been fully expended on health care expenses or lost revenues attributable to coronavirus by the deadline to use funds that corresponds to the Payment Received Period must be returned to HHS. The Provider Relief Fund Terms and Conditions and applicable legal requirements authorized HHS to audit Provider Relief Fund recipients now or in the future to ensure that program requirements are met. Provider Relief Fund payments that were made incorrectly, or exceed lost revenues or expenses due to coronavirus, or do not otherwise meet applicable legal and program requirements must be returned to HHS, and HHS is authorized to recover these funds.

What should providers do if they had remaining Provider Relief Fund payments that they cannot expend on allowable expenses or lost revenues by the relevant deadline?

Providers that had Provider Relief Fund payments that they cannot expend on allowable expenses or lost revenues by the deadline to use funds that corresponds to the Payment Received Period, as outlined in the Post-Payment Notice of Reporting Requirements, will return this money to HHS. The Provider Relief Fund Terms and Conditions and legal requirements authorize HHS to audit Provider Relief Fund recipients now or in the future to ensure that program requirements are met. HHS is authorized to recover any Provider Relief Fund amounts that were made incorrectly or exceed lost revenues or expenses due to coronavirus, or do not otherwise meet applicable legal and program requirements.

What oversight and enforcement mechanisms did HHS use to ensure providers meet the Terms and Conditions of the Provider Relief Fund?

Providers receiving payments from the Provider Relief Fund must comply with the Terms and Conditions and applicable legal and program requirements. Failure by a provider that received a payment to comply with any term or condition can result in action by HHS to recover some or all of the payment. Per the Terms and Conditions, all recipients were required to submit documents to substantiate that these funds were used for health care-related expenses or lost revenues attributable to coronavirus, and that those expenses or lost revenues were not reimbursed from other sources and other sources were not obligated to reimburse them. HHS monitored the funds distributed, and oversaw payments to ensure that Federal dollars were used in accordance with applicable legal and program requirements. In addition, the HHS Office of the Inspector General fights fraud, waste and abuse in HHS programs, and may review these payments.

What if my payment was greater than expected or received in error?

If HHS identified a payment made incorrectly, HHS recovered the amount paid incorrectly or overpaid. If a provider received a payment that was greater than expected and believed the payment was made incorrectly, the provider should contact the Provider Support Line at (866) 569-3522 (for TYY, dial 711) and seek clarification.

Certain recipients were required to notify HHS of a merger with or acquisition of any other health care provider during the Payment Received Period (as defined in the Provider Relief Fund Post Payment Notice of Reporting Requirements). How should recipients have reported this information to HHS/HRSA?

To streamline the process and minimize provider burden, this information was collected in the Provider Relief Fund Reporting Portal as part of the regular reporting process. Additional reporting information will be forthcoming for impacted providers.

If a provider cannot expend its Provider Relief Fund payment by the applicable deadline to use funds, what was the deadline to return the unused funds to the government?

The provider must return any unused funds to the government within 30 calendar days after the end of the applicable Reporting Time Period or any associated grace period.

Was there a set period of time in which providers must use the payments to cover allowable expenses or lost revenues attributable to COVID-19?

Yes. PRF and ARP Rural recipients must use payments for eligible expenses, including services rendered during the period of availability, as outlined in Table 1 below. PRF and ARP Rural recipients may also use payments for lost revenues attributable to COVID-19 incurred within the period of availability, but only up to June 30, 2023, the end of the quarter in which the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency ends.

The period of availability of funds was based on the date the payment was received. The payment was received on the deposit date for automated clearing house (ACH) payments or the check cashed date. Providers must follow their basis of accounting (e.g., cash, accrual, or modified accrual) to determine expenses.

Provider Relief Fund recipients must use payments only for eligible expenses, including services rendered, and lost revenues attributable to coronavirus, incurred by the end of the Period of Availability that corresponded to the Payment Received Period. Providers were required to maintain supporting documentation that demonstrated that costs were incurred during the Period of Availability, as required under the Terms and Conditions. However, providers were not required to submit that documentation when reporting. Providers must promptly submit copies of such supporting documentation upon the request of the Secretary of HHS. Examples of costs incurred for an entity using accrual accounting, during the Period of Availability include:

• Services that were received
• Renovation or construction that was completed
• Tangible property ordered, but need not have been delivered

For purchases of tangible items made using PRF payments, the purchase did not need to be in the provider’s possession (i.e., back ordered PPE, ambulance, etc.) to be considered an eligible expense but the costs must have been incurred by the end of the Period of Availability. Providers must follow their basis of accounting (e.g., cash, accrual, or modified accrual) to determine expenses. For projects that are a bundle of services and purchases of tangible items that cannot be separated, such as capital projects, construction projects, or alteration and renovation projects, the project costs cannot be reimbursed using Provider Relief Fund payments unless the project was fully completed by the end of Period of Availability associated with the Payment Received Period.

Recipients may use payments for eligible expenses or lost revenues incurred prior to receipt of those payments (i.e., pre-award costs) so long as they were to prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus. However, HHS expects it would be highly unusual for providers to have incurred eligible expenses or lost revenues before January 1, 2020. Additionally, the opportunity to apply Provider Relief Fund payments (excluding the Nursing Home Infection Control Distribution) and ARP Rural payments for lost revenues will be available up to June 30, 2023, the end of the quarter in which the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency ends.

HHS reserves the right to audit Provider Relief Fund recipients now or in the future, and may pursue collection activity to recover any Provider Relief Fund payment amounts that have not been supported by documentation or payments not used in a manner consistent with program requirements or applicable law. All payment recipients must have attested to the Terms and Conditions, which required maintaining documentation to substantiate that these funds were used for health care-related expenses or lost revenues attributable to coronavirus.

Can providers use Provider Relief Fund distributions to repay payments made under the CMS Accelerated and Advance Payment (AAP) Program?

No, this was not a permissible use of Provider Relief Fund payments.