Provider Relief Fund General Information

Provider Relief Fund payments are being disbursed via both "General" and "Targeted" Distributions.

To be eligible for the General Distributions, a provider must have billed Medicare fee-for-service in 2019, be a known Medicaid and CHIP or dental provider and provide or provided after January 31, 2020 diagnoses, testing, or care for individuals with possible or actual cases of COVID-19. HHS broadly views every patient as a possible case of  COVID-19.

A description of the eligibility for the announced Targeted Distributions can be found here. U.S. healthcare providers may be eligible for payments from future Targeted Distributions. Information on future distributions will be shared when publicly available.

All providers retaining funds must sign an attestation and accept the Terms and Conditions associated with payment. 

(Updated 12/4/2020)

Retention and use of these funds are subject to certain terms and conditions. If these terms and conditions are met, payments do not need to be repaid at a later date.

(Added 4/25/2020)

Yes. Provider Relief Fund recipients must immediately notify HRSA about their bankruptcy petition or involvement in a bankruptcy proceeding so that the Agency may take the appropriate steps. When notifying HRSA about a bankruptcy, please include the name that the bankruptcy is filed under, the docket number, and the district where the bankruptcy is filed. You must submit this information to PRFbankruptcy@hrsa.gov. If a Provider Relief Fund recipient has filed a bankruptcy petition or is involved in a bankruptcy proceeding, federal financial obligations will be resolved in accordance with the applicable bankruptcy process, the Bankruptcy Code, and applicable non-bankruptcy federal law.

(Added 12/9/2021)

The AL number is 93.498.

(Added 9/29/2021)

In order to be eligible for a payment under the Provider Relief Fund, a provider must meet the eligibility criteria for the distribution and must be in compliance with the Terms and Conditions for any previously received Provider Relief Fund payments. Additionally, a provider must not be currently terminated from participation in Medicare or precluded from receiving payment through Medicare Advantage or Part D; must not be currently excluded from participation in Medicare, Medicaid, and other Federal health care programs; and must not currently have Medicare billing privileges revoked as determined by either the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services or the HHS Office of Inspector General in order to be eligible to receive a payment under the Provider Relief Fund. 

(Updated 6/30/2022)

Yes. The Provider Relief Fund does not issue individual General and Targeted Distributions payments that are less than $100. 

(Added 12/11/2020)

Going forward, HHS will allow providers that submitted data as part of the COVID-19 High Impact Area Distribution and/or the Nursing Home Infection Control/Quality Incentive Payment Distribution, a limited opportunity to submit corrected data for up to 5 business days after the submission deadline. HHS will only accept corrections within the 5-day time period that are accompanied by a justification for why the provider erred in the initial data submission. HHS will review each request for correction on a case-by-case basis and may determine that a previous payment be amended to align with the updated data. Providers who submit updated data may have their payments delayed for up to 90 days from the date of submission pending review and adjudication. All HHS decisions are final and there is no appeals process. 

(Added 10/28/2020)

Please refer to CMS FAQs - PDF on how Provider Relief Fund payments should be reported on cost reports. 

(Updated 9/3/2020)

Providers should contact the Provider Support Line at 866-569-3522 (for TTY, dial 711), if they have questions about the status of their payment or application. When calling, providers should have ready the last four digits of the recipient's or applicant's Tax Identification Number (TIN), the name of the recipient or applicant as it appears on the most recent tax filing, the mailing address for the recipient or applicant as it appears on the most recent tax filing, and the application number (begins with either "DS" or "CR") if they have submitted an application in the Provider Relief Fund Payment Portal. 

(Added 7/8/2020)

Yes. Hospitals and health systems in all states and territories eligible for Provider Relief Fund payments. 

(Updated 8/4/2020)

In order to ensure program integrity and transparency, HHS made Provider Relief Fund payments to health care providers based on the latest data available for a TIN.  As previous owners are not permitted to transfer funds to the new owner, they were instructed to return the funds to HHS.  At this time, HHS will not reissue returned payments to the new owners.  Providers that have not received payments under the Provider Relief Fund due to issues related to change of ownership will be eligible to apply for future allocations. Additional information will be posted as available on the Future Payments page.

(Added 7/8/2020)

Future General Distributions will take into account previous allocations, including General Distributions and Targeted Distributions. HHS may consider providers that have only received a Provider Relief Fund General Distribution for priority under future General Distributions.

(Added 8/7/2020)

If a provider ceased operation as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, they are still eligible to receive Provider Relief Fund payments so long as they provided on or after January 31, 2020, diagnoses, testing, or care for individuals with possible or actual cases of COVID-19. HHS broadly views every patient as a possible case of COVID-19, therefore, care does not have to be specific to treating COVID-19.  Recipients of funding must still comply with the Terms and Conditions related to permissible uses of Provider Relief Fund payments. 

(Added 5/29/2020)

There is no direct ban under the CARES Act on accepting a payment from the Provider Relief Fund and other sources, so long as the payment from the Provider Relief Fund is used only for permissible purposes and the recipient complies with the Terms and Conditions. By attesting to the Terms and Conditions, the recipient certifies that it will not use the payment to reimburse expenses or losses that have been reimbursed from other sources or that other sources are obligated to reimburse. 

(Added 5/29/2020)

Payments from the Provider Relief Fund shall not be subject to the claims of the provider's creditors and providers are limited in their ability to transfer Provider Relief Fund payments to their creditors.  A provider may utilize Provider Relief Fund payments to satisfy creditors' claims, but only to the extent that such claims constitute eligible health care related expenses and lost revenues attributable to coronavirus and are made to prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus, as set forth under the Terms and Conditions. 

(Added 6/8/2020)

No. A payment to a business, even if the business is a sole proprietorship, does not qualify as a qualified disaster relief payment under section 139. The payment from the Provider Relief Fund is includible in gross income under section 61 of the Code. For more information, visit the Internal Revenue Services' website. 

(Added 7/10/2020)

Generally, no. A health care provider that is described in section 501(c) of the Code generally is exempt from federal income taxation under section 501(a). Nonetheless, a payment received by a tax-exempt health care provider from the Provider Relief Fund may be subject to tax under section 511 if the payment reimburses the provider for expenses or lost revenue attributable to an unrelated trade or business as defined in section 513. For more information, visit the Internal Revenue Services' website. 

(Added 7/10/2020)

Yes, you will receive a Form 1099 if you received and retained within the calendar year 2021 a total net payment from either or both of the Provider Relief Fund and/or COVID-19 Claims Reimbursement to Health Care Providers and Facilities for Testing, Treatment, and Vaccine Administration for the Uninsured that is in excess of $600.

(Updated 2/25/2022)

Form 1099s will be mailed by January 31, 2022. If you have previously established an account with UnitedHealth Group and elected to receive electronic copies of documents and notices, you will not receive a mailed copy.

(Updated 2/25/2022)

Please call the Provider Support Line 866-569-3522 (for TTY, dial 711) for any questions you may have regarding your Form 1099.

(Added 12/18/2020)

HHS will allocate returned payments to future distributions of the Provider Relief Fund.

(Added 6/30/2020)

Recipients (both non-federal entities and commercial organizations) of the General and Targeted Distributions of the Provider Relief Fund are subject to 45 CFR 75 Subpart A (Acronyms and Definitions) and B (General Provisions), subsections §§75.303 (Internal Controls), and 75.351-.353 (Subrecipient Monitoring and Management), and Subpart F (Audit Requirements). In addition, the terms and conditions of the PRF payments incorporate by reference the obligation of recipients to comply with the requirements to maintain appropriate financial systems at 75.302 (Financial management and standards for financial management systems) and the requirements for record retention and access at 75.361 through 75.365 (Record Retention and Access).

(Added 12/28/2020)

Generally, if the applicable reporting period for the funds has not closed and the provider believes that they have returned an amount greater than what was owed, HRSA will refund the provider the erroneously returned amount.

(Updated 2/25/2022)

Providers that have Provider Relief Fund payments that they cannot expend on allowable expenses or lost revenues attributable to coronavirus by the Period of Availability that corresponds to the Payment Received Period are required to return such funds to the federal government.

To return any unused funds, use the Return Unused PRF Funds Portal. Instructions for returning any unused funds .

The Provider Relief Fund Terms and Conditions and applicable laws authorize HHS to audit Provider Relief Fund recipients now or in the future to ensure that program requirements are/were met. HHS is authorized to recover any Provider Relief Fund payment amounts that were made in error, exceed lost revenue or expenses due to coronavirus, or do not otherwise meet applicable legal and program requirements.

(Updated 10/20/2021)

If you received a notice from the Provider Relief Fund that you had funds available, but did not take action within 90 days of the original payment issuance date, the payment is no longer available to you.  If it is past the 90-day period for a General Distribution payment, you may apply for a Phase 2 – General Distribution payment through the Provider Relief Attestation and Application Portal .  If it is within 90 days of the original payment issuance date, you must contact the Provider Support Line to reinitiate your ACH payment. In order to distribute the funds in a timely manner, it is important to maintain current ACH information. 

(Added 9/3/2020)

Yes, for Provider Relief Fund payments that were held in an interest-bearing account, the provider must return the accrued interest associated with the amount being returned to HHS.  However, if the funds were not held in an interest-bearing account, there is no obligation for the provider to return any additional amount other than the Provider Relief fund payment being returned to HHS.  HHS reserves the right to audit Provider Relief Fund recipients in the future to ensure that payments that were held in an interest-bearing account were subsequently returned with accrued interest.

To return accrued interest, visit pay.gov.  On the webpage, locate "Find an agency," and select "Health and Human Services (HHS) Program Support Center HQ."  Verify that the description is "PSC HQ Payment" and form number is "HHSHQ," then click continue.  You will then need to complete the following steps:
Step 1: Preview the form, then click "Continue."
Step 2: Indicate whether you are completing on behalf of an individual or business and enter the following information.
Business Name Field: Legal name of organization that received the payment
Invoice or Ticket Number Field: "HHS-COVID-Interest"
Contract/Agreement Number Field:  Tax Identification Number (TIN) of organization or provider that received the payment
Point of contact: Business contact information
Payment Amount: (The payment amount must match the interest earned on the payment received.)
Step 3: Verify the interest return payment amount and select to pay by ACH or debit/credit card, then select "Continue."
Step 4: Enter the required information to complete the payment, then select "Review and Submit."
Step 5: Ensure that all information is correct and select "Submit." 

(Updated 12/11/2020)