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This story has been updated to include new information from the Health Resources and Services Administration.

Long-term care operators who have applied for Phase 4 Provider Relief Fund payments won’t receive the awards until mid-December after a distribution delay was announced by the Health Resources and Services Administration, according to the American Health Care Association.

Awards were previously expected to be made in mid-November, AHCA noted in a Friday blog post. Payments will now begin making payments in December and continue through January 2022.

“HRSA will send individual communications to providers when final payment decisions are made and is not able to respond to requests for updates on application status at this time,” the agency wrote.  

HRSA first announced the latest relief funding rounds in mid-September, with the federal government making $8.5 billion available in rural payments and $17 billion available in Phase 4 funding. Rural are being released this month, HRSA announced after production deadline on Wednesday (Nov. 23).

Rural payments are only open to providers who serve patients covered by Medicare and Medicaid, while Phase 4 payments are open to a broad range of providers who’ve seen changes in their operating revenues and expenses.

Providers had until the end of October to apply for the relief funding, which is largely believed to be the last batch being made available.