CMS Reevaluates Accelerated Payment Program and Suspends
Advance Payment Program
On April 26, the Centers for Medicare
& Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that it is reevaluating the
amounts that will be paid under its Accelerated Payment Program and
suspending its Advance Payment Program to Part B suppliers effective
immediately. The agency made this announcement following the successful
payment of over $100 billion to health care providers and suppliers
through these programs and in light of the $175 billion recently
appropriated for health care provider relief payments.
CMS had expanded these temporary loan
programs to ensure providers and suppliers had the resources needed to
combat the beginning stages of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19).
Funding will continue to be available to hospitals and other health care
providers on the front lines of the coronavirus response primarily from
the Provider Relief Fund. The Accelerated
and Advance Payment (AAP) Programs are typically used to give providers
emergency funding and address cash flow issues for providers and
suppliers when there is disruption in claims submission or claims
processing, including during a public health emergency or
Presidentially-declared disaster.
Since expanding the AAP programs on March
28, 2020, CMS approved over 21,000 applications totaling $59.6 billion in
payments to Part A providers, which includes hospitals. For Part B
suppliers, including doctors, non-physician practitioners and durable
medical equipment suppliers, CMS approved almost 24,000 applications
advancing $40.4 billion in payments. The AAP programs are not a
grant, and providers and suppliers are typically required to pay back the
funding within one year, or less, depending on provider or supplier type.
Beginning today, CMS will not be accepting any new applications for the
Advance Payment Program, and CMS will be reevaluating all pending and new
applications for Accelerated Payments in light of historical direct
payments made available through the Department of Health & Human
Services’ (HHS) Provider Relief Fund.
Significant additional funding will
continue to be available to hospitals and other health care providers
through other programs. Congress appropriated $100 billion in the
Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act (PL 116-136)
and $75 billion through the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care
Enhancement Act (PL 116-139) for health care providers. HHS is
distributing this money through the Provider Relief Fund, and these
payments do not need to be repaid.
The CARES Act Provider Relief Fund is
being administered through HHS and has already released $30 billion to
providers and is in the process of releasing an additional $20 billion,
with more funding anticipated to be released soon. This funding will be
used to support health care-related expenses or lost revenue attributable
to the COVID-19 pandemic and to ensure uninsured Americans can get treatment
for COVID-19.
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