After significant speculation of when and how any portion of the $100B of the CARES Act Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund would be paid, today HHS is distributing $30B of that fund to all Medicare-enrolled providers and suppliers based on their share of the 2019 Medicare fee-for-service payments.  The funds will be administers by UnitedHealth Group, either deposited today using electronic ACH accounts (titled “HHSPAYMENT”) or paper checks sent in the mail.  A rough allocation of the funds by state is attached.

These funds are not a loan and are not required to be repaid.  A provider’s share is based on the total amount of Medicare FFS payments that the provider received in 2019 per tax identification (TIN) number.  This includes any Medicare-enrolled provider or supplier.  An estimate of the amount can be made by dividing a provider or supplier’s 2019 FFS payments (by TIN) by the total Medicare FFS payments made in 2019--$434 Billion.  Medicare Advantage payments are not included in these calculations.

Two conditions exist for the receipt and retention of these funds: (1) within 30 days of receipt, providers and supplier must attest, electronically, to the receipt of the funds, and (2) providers may not “balance bill” any patient for COVID-related treatments.