The U.S. government has agreed to reimburse NYC Health + Hospitals for nearly $900 million in pandemic-related emergency expenses, the Daily News reported Sept. 15.
NYC Health + Hospitals, which oversees New York City's 11 public hospitals, filed the request with the Federal Emergency Management Agency in October 2020. The public hospital system sought the funding to offset costs incurred from hiring extra staff and expanding capacity to care for hospitalized COVID-19 patients.
In June, FEMA agreed to cover $260 million of the bill, arguing that the remaining funds were ineligible because the public hospital system combined regular hospital expenses with emergency COVID-19 costs, according to the report.
Since then, several lawmakers and hospital officials have urged FEMA to reverse its decision.
This week, FEMA agreed to pay the health system another $620 million, for a total of $880 million. This covers almost the entirety of the hospital's original reimbursement claim, according to the report.
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