The Department of Health and Human Services on Wednesday announced that nursing homes will receive another $1.1 billion in COVID-19 relief funding.
The additional funding is part of a newly revised plan to distribute over $24.5 billion in Phase 3 funding from the Provider Relief Fund to more than 70,000 healthcare providers. That figure is up from the $20 billion that originally was planned for Phase 3. The agency said Wednesday the additional $4.5 billion is being used to satisfy close to 90% of each applicant’s reported lost revenues and net change in expenses caused by the pandemic.
“With the Provider Relief Fund, we’ve been able to support providers hardest hit by COVID-19, including safety net hospitals, rural providers, and nursing homes, helping ensure they can continue serving their communities during and beyond the pandemic,” HHS Secretary Alex Azar said in a statement.
HHS added that the additional $1.1 billion for nursing homes builds on the incentive payment program and the more than $15 billion in aggregate funding already distributed to providers.
The payments will be distributed started today and will continue through January 2021.
