Today, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), announced approximately $15 billion in COVID-19-related relief payments for physicians and hospitals  that participate in state Medicaid  programs and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). This funding will supply relief to Medicaid and CHIP providers experiencing lost revenues or increased expenses due to COVID-19. This round of targeted funding will only be available to those physicians who have not previously received money from the HHS Provider Relief fund general distribution. Providers will be able to apply for these funds starting tomorrow, Wednesday, June 10.

According to HHS, the first two HHS Provider Relief fund general distributions provided payments to approximately 62% of all providers participating in state Medicaid and CHIP programs. The new targeted Medicaid and CHIP distribution will provide relief funds to the remaining 38%. The HHS Provider Relief fund $50 billion general distribution is composed of the $30 billion that was automatically distributed to largely Medicare physicians in mid April and the second $20 billion that will be distributed to physicians soon.  Applications for the $20 billion were due on June 3, 2020. 

On Wednesday, HHS will launch the updated Provider Relief Fund Payment Portal that will allow eligible Medicaid and CHIP providers to apply for funding which includes reporting their annual patient revenue, which will be used as a factor in determining their Provider Relief Fund payment. The payment to each provider will be at least 2% of reported gross revenue from patient care (from all payors). The final amount each provider receives will be determined after the data is submitted, including information about the number of Medicaid patients they serve.

To be eligible for this funding, health care providers must not have received payments from the $50 billion Provider Relief Fund general distribution and either have directly billed their state Medicaid/CHIP fee-for-service programs or Medicaid managed care plans for health care services between January 1, 2018, to May 31, 2020. 

For more information, see CMA's fact sheet.