Hospitals penned a letter urging HHS to grant them more time to use the COVID-19 aid they received before June 30, 2020.
On June 11, HHS issued new guidance that staggered deadlines to use the funding based on the date that the payments were received. However, the deadline remained unchanged for payments received before June 30, 2020. The hospitals that received funding before June 30 of last year have until June 30 of this year to use the funding or return it.
The American Hospital Association is urging HHS to revise the guidance to enable all recipients to access the funds through the end of the public health emergency or June 30, 2022, the final deadline in HHS' June 11 guidance.
"We believe that providing additional flexibility is necessary, fair and appropriate," the AHA wrote in the letter. "That is because the new guidance disadvantages certain providers without providing a clear policy rationale. Specifically, some providers will need to spend their funds well before others simply because they received a PRF payment earlier in the distribution process."