The initial round of CARES Provider Relief funds started showing up in suppliers’ bank accounts around April 10, 2020, without notice or request. Suppliers must return funds or agree to the applicable terms and conditions within 90 days of the receipt date; for many, the deadline is this week. Letting the deadlines lapse without returning the money constitutes acceptance of the terms and conditions.
Suppliers that accept the terms and conditions appear on a publicly available list that includes their name, state, city, and payment amount. Because HHS calculated the payments based on the recipients’ Medicare revenues, inclusion in the public list effectively discloses each supplier’s 2019 Medicare revenues. Suppliers cannot opt out of the public disclosure.
Additionally, the CARES Act legislation and the individual terms and conditions require suppliers to maintain records and cost documentation to support the use of funds. Suppliers must agree to make this documentation available to HHS upon request.
Moreover, the CARES Act legislation requires suppliers who receive more than $150,000 in combined funding from any coronavirus stimulus package (e.g. Provider Relief, Paycheck Protection, etc.) to file quarterly reports. The legislation requires quarterly reports to include:
But suppliers aren’t off the reporting hook just yet. The terms and conditions take supplier reporting responsibilities one step further. Suppliers must submit any reports requested by the Secretary that allow HHS to ensure compliance. This particular provision will assuredly require reports on how suppliers spend the relief money. We will refer to this future obligation as “usage reporting.” HHS indicates the agency will notify recipients of the content and due dates for these reports in the coming weeks. We anticipate suppliers will be on the hook to produce regular usage reports until the funds are fully exhausted.
Either the Secretary, OIG, or Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (PRAC) will eventually conduct audits of how suppliers use Provider Relief Funds and other stimulus monies. As such, every supplier accepting these funds should expect to account for the payments and demonstrate compliance with the terms at some point in the future. In accepting the terms, suppliers are making reporting commitments without even knowing what the reports will look like.
If you have decided to accept the funds, then start keeping detailed records now of every expense for which these funds are used, and prepare to report on demand.
SOURCE LINKS
https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/terms-and-conditions-provider-relief-30-b.pdf
https://data.cdc.gov/api/views/kh8y-3es6/rows.csv?accessType=DOWNLOAD&bom=true&format=true
https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/provider-relief-fund-general-distribution-faqs.pdf
Suppliers that accept the terms and conditions appear on a publicly available list that includes their name, state, city, and payment amount. Because HHS calculated the payments based on the recipients’ Medicare revenues, inclusion in the public list effectively discloses each supplier’s 2019 Medicare revenues. Suppliers cannot opt out of the public disclosure.
Additionally, the CARES Act legislation and the individual terms and conditions require suppliers to maintain records and cost documentation to support the use of funds. Suppliers must agree to make this documentation available to HHS upon request.
Moreover, the CARES Act legislation requires suppliers who receive more than $150,000 in combined funding from any coronavirus stimulus package (e.g. Provider Relief, Paycheck Protection, etc.) to file quarterly reports. The legislation requires quarterly reports to include:
- Total funds received.
- Total funds expended.
- Total funds obligated.
- Detailed spending and obligations by project and activity with an estimate of jobs created or retained.
But suppliers aren’t off the reporting hook just yet. The terms and conditions take supplier reporting responsibilities one step further. Suppliers must submit any reports requested by the Secretary that allow HHS to ensure compliance. This particular provision will assuredly require reports on how suppliers spend the relief money. We will refer to this future obligation as “usage reporting.” HHS indicates the agency will notify recipients of the content and due dates for these reports in the coming weeks. We anticipate suppliers will be on the hook to produce regular usage reports until the funds are fully exhausted.
Either the Secretary, OIG, or Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (PRAC) will eventually conduct audits of how suppliers use Provider Relief Funds and other stimulus monies. As such, every supplier accepting these funds should expect to account for the payments and demonstrate compliance with the terms at some point in the future. In accepting the terms, suppliers are making reporting commitments without even knowing what the reports will look like.
If you have decided to accept the funds, then start keeping detailed records now of every expense for which these funds are used, and prepare to report on demand.
SOURCE LINKS
https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/terms-and-conditions-provider-relief-30-b.pdf
https://data.cdc.gov/api/views/kh8y-3es6/rows.csv?accessType=DOWNLOAD&bom=true&format=true
https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/provider-relief-fund-general-distribution-faqs.pdf
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