What is the COVID-19 Claims Reimbursement to Health Care Providers and Facilities for Testing, Treatment, and Vaccine Administration for the Uninsured Program?

The Administration is providing support to health care providers fighting the COVID-19 pandemic through the COVID-19 Claims Reimbursement to Health Care Providers and Facilities for Testing, Treatment, and Vaccine Administration for the Uninsured Program (HRSA COVID-19 Uninsured Program). This program provides reimbursements on a rolling basis directly to eligible providers for claims attributed to the testing, treatment, or vaccine administration for COVID-19 for uninsured individuals.

The following parts of bipartisan legislation provide funding for the program:

• The Families First Coronavirus Response Act or FFCRA (P.L. 116-127) and the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act or PPPHCEA (P.L. 116-139), which each appropriated $1 billion to reimburse providers for conducting COVID-19 testing for uninsured individuals;
• The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act (P.L. 116-136), which provided $100 billion in relief funds, including to hospitals and other health care providers on the front lines of the COVID-19 response; the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act or PPPHCEA (P.L. 116-139), which appropriated an additional $75 billion in relief funds; and the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act (CRRSA) (P.L. 116-260), which appropriated an additional $3 billion (collectively, the Provider Relief Fund).
  • Within the Provider Relief Fund, a portion of the funding supports health care-related expenses attributable to COVID-19 testing for the uninsured and treatment of uninsured individuals with COVID-19. A portion of the funding is also used to reimburse providers for administering Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-authorized or licensed COVID-19 vaccines to uninsured individuals.
• The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA, P.L. 117-2), which allocated funding to reimburse providers for COVID-19 testing of the uninsured.