Please see below for information regarding
updates to the Medicare Accelerated and Advance Payment Programs
CMS NEWS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 26, 2020
CMS Reevaluates Accelerated Payment
Program and Suspends Advance Payment Program
Today, 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
healthcare providers and suppliers through these programs and in light of
the $175 billion recently appropriated for healthcare 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 healthcare 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 healthcare 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 healthcare 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 healthcare-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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