FAQs for COVID-19 Claims Reimbursement to Health Care Providers and Facilities for Testing, Treatment and Vaccine Administration
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance number (CFDA): 93.461
General Questions
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.
Initially, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) and the PPPHCEA each appropriated $1 billion to reimburse providers for conducting COVID-19 testing for uninsured individuals. Funding allocated from the FFCRA and PPPHCEA for reimbursing provider claims for COVID-19 testing of the uninsured has been fully disbursed. The HRSA COVID-19 Uninsured Program now draws from funding allocated through the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA, P.L. 117-2) and the legislation that supports the Provider Relief Fund, as explained elsewhere in the FAQs.
The program is being administered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) through a contract with UnitedHealth Group.