This week, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) distributed approximately $15 billion in Provider Relief Funds (PRF) to eligible Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) providers that participate in state Medicaid and CHIP programs and have not received a previous payment from the Provider Relief Fund General Allocation. Most of these providers are Medicaid-only providers, meaning that Medicaid is their only source of reimbursement. Although few if any FQHCs are likely to qualify for this latest PRF funding, most FQHCs have already received at least one direct deposit from the PRF. There is $50 billion remaining in the fund and NACHC this week sent a letter to HHS Sec. Azar urging that a portion of this funding go to health centers and particularly to health centers with more than 500 employees (who were ineligible for a Paycheck Protection Program loan) and look-alikes, that only qualified for one of the three FQHC COVID-19 funding streams from HRSA.
