Provider Relief Fund Reporting Portal is Now Open

The long-awaited Provider Relief Fund (PRF) Reporting Portal is now open for reporting on the use of PRF funds received. The HW&Co. article, Revised PRF Reporting Requirements including Extended Time to Expend Some Funds, has more details on reporting periods and requirements.

The first report is due by September 30, 2021 for providers receiving payments exceeding $10,000 during  Period 1, April 10, 2020 to June 30, 2020.   This will include most Medicare Providers.   Medicaid and Private Pay only providers most likely did not receive funds until Period 2 and that report will not be due until March 31, 2022.

New PRF Reporting Portal Resources:

Portal FAQs
Registration User Guide
Reporting User Guide
Data Entry Workbook

To be considered an allowable expense under the Provider Relief Fund, the expense must be used to prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus. Provider Relief Fund payments may also be used for lost revenues attributable to the coronavirus.

Reporting Entities are required to maintain adequate documentation to substantiate that these funds were used for healthcare-related expenses or lost revenues attributable to coronavirus and that those expenses or losses were not reimbursed from other sources and other sources were not obligated to reimburse them. Reporting Entities are not required to submit that documentation when reporting. Providers are required to maintain supporting documentation which demonstrates that costs were obligated/incurred during the period of availability. The burden of proof is on the Reporting Entity to ensure that adequate documentation is maintained.

The Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA) has provided a Data Entry Workbook to assist providers to summarize the information that will be required to be entered into the portal.   The workbook is an Excel file with many sheets that is not formatted to print.   For your convenience, we have formatted it as a PDF so that you can print it and easily see the information you will need to gather.

HRSA has scheduled a webinar, Introduction to the PRF Reporting Portal, on July 8, 2021 at 3:00pm ET (Register to attend).   In addition, an on-demand Portal demonstration video tutorial will be made available in July.  HRSA Provider Support Line is (866) 569-3522

A few reminders from previous articles:

• The reporting requirements are applicable to recipients of the Nursing Home Infection Control Distribution in addition to General and other Targeted Distributions

• All recipients of Provider Relief Fund (PRF) payments must comply with the reporting requirements described in the Terms and Conditions and specified in directions issued by the Secretary.
• The original recipient of a Targeted Distribution payment is always the Reporting Entity. A parent entity may not report on its subsidiaries’ Targeted Distribution payments. This is required regardless of whether the parent or subsidiary received the payment or whether that original recipient subsequently transferred the payment.
• If a provider does not expend the PRF on allowable expenses or lost revenues by the applicable deadline to use funds, then they must return any unused funds to the government within 30 calendar days after the end of the applicable Period of Reporting.

HW&Co. will be scheduling a PRF Reporting webinar in August.   Stay tuned for details.  We will provide more guidance and clarification to our clients as we digest the voluminous user guides and 28 FAQs that were new or modified on July 1, 2021.

We are here to assist you in any way we can. Please visit the HW&Co. Current Events Center on our website for additional resources or contact your HW Healthcare Advisor if you need assistance

Disclaimer:  Information in this article is subject to change and is based upon our current understanding as of the issue date. This is a constantly evolving process as HHS has been issuing new or changed guidance on a frequent basis.