Some of you have heard about, and possibly a few of you have received deposits from, the Public Health and Social Service Emergency Fund.  Here is the scoop.

The Public Health and Social Service Emergency Fund is a $100 billion fund that is aimed to help Medicare providers suffering losses due to the pandemic.  The disbursement of funds is based on the facilities share of Medicare payments in 2019, specifically Medicare FFS reimbursements.  Enrolled Medicaid providers are not immediately disqualified, but you must have received a Medicare FFS payment in 2019 to be eligible.  Once the payment is received, providers have 30 days to confirm receipt of the payment along with the Terms and Conditions of the payment.  The link for the confirmation form is not yet posted but expected to go active sometime this week.  Important terms include that the funding be only used for healthcare expenses or lost revenue that are attributable in response to the coronavirus; and the payment cannot cover expenses/lost revenues that have been reimbursed from other sources (PPP/EIDL).  These are payments, not loans, and will not need to be repaid.  The Fund initially released $30 billion, and an additional $70 billion will be released in a later round that will expand eligibility and will likely require a formal application process.

More detailed information can be found here: https://www.hhs.gov/provider-relief/index.html