Private equity companies have borrowed at least $1.5 billion from HHS through two programs intended to provide funding to healthcare providers facing financial damage due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Bloomberg's analysis of more than 40,000 loans disclosed by HHS.
The Medicare loans were made to hospitals, clinics and treatment centers controlled by private equity firms through two programs administered by CMS: the Advance Payments Program and the Accelerated Payments Program. Those programs were expanded earlier this year to help offset the financial impact of COVID-19.
HHS approved loans totaling more than $60 million to subsidiaries of companies owned by private equity firm KKR, which has roughly $58 billion of cash to invest, according to Bloomberg. Healthcare facilities owned by private equity firm Apollo Global Management received $500 million in loans, and Cerberus Capital Management's Steward Health Care System received roughly $400 million in loans. Steward physicians announced June 2 that they're acquiring the health system from Cerberus.
CMS Administrator Seema Verma said the goal of the programs was to get funds to healthcare providers as quickly as possible. The loan applications did not include questions about beneficial ownership of the healthcare companies seeking loans.
"We don't look into ownership, what we look into is are they Medicare-enrolled providers," Ms. Verma told Bloomberg.
Access the full Bloomberg article here.