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Deadline Details

Medicaid/Children's Health Insurance Program Provider Relief Fund
The deadline for physicians who treat Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) patients to apply for federal Provider Relief Funds has been extended to Sept. 13. The original deadline was Aug. 3, then Aug. 28. HHS in June made $15 billion in funds available to Medicaid and CHIP physicians and providers, part of the second round of emergency grants Congress allocated from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. Provider Relief Fund payments “will be at least 2 percent of reported gross revenue from patient care,” HHS has said. To be eligible, physicians and health care providers must not have received any payments from previous relief funds paid to physicians who participate in Medicare. Also, they must have billed their state Medicaid/CHIP programs or Medicaid managed care plans directly for health care-related services between Jan. 1, 2018, and May 31, 2020. Importantly, HHS also announced that physicians and providers who have been excluded from the relief funds because they received any prior federal payments – even less than $10 – also will be able to apply starting Aug. 10 through Sept. 13. The Texas Medical Association, American Medical Association, and other physician organizations vigorously advocated for this change. In July, Gov. Greg Abbott and the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) urged physicians to apply for the funds, saying that, at the time, less than 5% of the state’s 27,351 eligible health care professionals had applied for funds. However, applications for the fund had been low, in part, because of this requirement. In its announcement, HHS also noted it will soon be providing a simplified application form “in response to ongoing dialogue focused on improving the provider experience.”
US Health and Human Services
09/13/2020
Applications must be submitted by 10:59 Central Standard Time. To qualify, physicians must meet certain eligibility criteria, including having billed either Medicare fee-for-service between Jan. 1 2019 to Dec. 31, 2019 or Medicaid or CHIP between Jan. 1, 2018-Dec. 31, 2019; and • all of the following requirements: -Filed a federal income tax return for fiscal years 2017, 2018, 2019; or be exempt from filing a return -Provided patient care after January 31, 2020 (Note: patient care includes health care, services and support, as provided in a medical setting, at home, or in the community) -Did not permanently cease providing patient care directly or indirectly -Did not receive a previous General Distribution payment totaling approximately 2 percent of annual patient revenue -For individuals, reported on Form 1040 (or other tax form) gross receipts or sales from providing patient care Importantly, Medicaid and CHIP participating physicians who have not yet applied should submit an application as soon as possible to ensure that there is sufficient time to validate the practice’s Tax Identification Number (TIN). Applications that remain pending as of the Sept. 13 deadline will processed after the deadline expires unless the TIN has not been confirmed.
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