CMS has expanded the Accelerated and Advance Payment Program to a broader group of healthcare providers to help offset the financial impact of COVID-19.
Five things to know:
1. CMS will provide expedited or advance Medicare payments to hospitals and other healthcare providers that submit a request and have billed Medicare for claims within 180 days immediately prior to the date of signature on the request form.
2. Healthcare organizations do not qualify if they are in bankruptcy, under active medical review or program integrity investigation, or have outstanding, delinquent Medicare overpayments.
3. Acute care hospitals, children's hospitals and some cancer hospitals can request up to 100 percent of the Medicare payment amount for a six-month period. Critical access hospitals can request up to 125 percent of their payment amount for a six-month period.
4. Inpatient acute care hospitals, children's hospitals, critical access hospitals and some cancer hospitals will have up to one year after receiving the accelerated payments to repay the balance.
5. The accelerated payments are not part of the $100 billion emergency fund authorized in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act to reimburse healthcare providers for expenses or lost revenue related to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Lexology.
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