The Stimulus Funding for Covid 19 Besieged Hospitals
The stimulus package includes $100 billion for hospitals and other providers to help them with increased health expenses or lost health revenues due to Covid 19.
The funds cannot be used for expenses or losses that are or should be reimbursed by other parties. In other words, it is not to make up your hospital’s shortfalls from treating Medicare or Medicaid patients or the privately insured. It is however for your uninsured patients with a Covid 19 diagnosis. The Kaiser Family Foundation recently estimated these costs at $14-40 billion depending on the length and extent of the pandemic and the rate of hospitalizations. They assumed reimbursement at the applicable Medicare rate plus the 20% Covid 19 rate bump.
The hospital or other provider must submit reports and maintain documentation showing its increased expenses or lost revenues.
It covers public, private, for profit and non-profit providers that treat Medicare and Medicaid patients and provide testing, diagnoses and treatment for Covid 19 patients. In other words it could include a range of services from the drive through test site to the ICU bed.
The funds can be used to build temporary structures, lease them, retrofit or build surge capacities into existing facilities to care for the influx of Covid 19 patients; they can also be used for the increased medical supplies, equipment, personal protective gear and the like to care for the Covid 19 patients.
The payments “shall be made in consideration of the most efficient payment systems practicable”. Whatever that means.
The IG can audit at any time and must complete a fully audited report to Congress.
Prepared by: Lucien Wulsin
Dated: 4/7/20