Reporting Requirements for Health Care Providers That Received Pandemic Relief

For health care providers operating in the middle of a pandemic, profit often takes a backseat to saving lives. That's why many providers have taken money from Uncle Sam in the past year. Some programs intended to help providers get by include Provider Relief Fund General Distributions, Targeted Distributions, Skilled Nursing Facility Infection Control Distributions and Nursing Home Infection Control Distributions. If you received more than $10,000 in the aggregate from those four programs since June 2020, your reporting requirements have just changed.

On Jan. 15, 2021, the Department of Health and Human Services issued guidelines for reporting government income and created its reporting portal. As of June 11, those requirements have changed and deadlines have been extended. You can read the complete announcement, but here are the key changes:

• The period of availability of funds is based on the date the payment is received (rather than requiring all payments be used by June 30, 2021, regardless of when they were received).
• Recipients are required to report for each payment received period in which they received one or more payments exceeding, in the aggregate, $10,000 (rather than $10,000 cumulatively across all PRF payments).
• Recipients will have a 90-day period to complete reporting (rather than a 30-day reporting period).
• The reporting requirements are now applicable to recipients of the Skilled Nursing Facility Infection Control and Nursing Home Infection Control distributions in addition to the General and Targeted distributions.
• The PRF Reporting Portal will open July 1, 2021, for providers to start submitting information.

Now, deadlines to use and report funds are based on the period when the funds were received rather than the year. To find the deadlines that apply to your practice, consult this table:

It's been a confusing couple of years for health care providers, and reporting income is never fun. But hopefully, the newly extended deadlines will take some pressure off your practice. Be sure to work with a qualified professional to make sure you're in compliance.