In response to some providers who encountered issues in the final days before the reporting deadline, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) has decided to re-open the Provider Relief Fund Reporting Portal briefly from Monday, December 13 at 9 a.m. ET through Monday, December 20 at 11:59 p.m. ET to help providers get those period 1 reports submitted. Also, during this time, providers who wish to revise or correct their Period 1 reports will be able to do so after calling the Provider Support Line (866-569-3522) to gain access to their previously submitted report. 

Providers who are making corrections/revisions must also resubmit their reports by the December 20, 2021 at 11:59 pm ET deadline. This re-opening of the portal may present an opportunity for nursing homes to rethink how they apply their expenses and lost revenues before the next reporting period. Infection control expenses are the only eligible use for Nursing Home Infection Control (NHIC) distributions and quality incentive payments issued through PRF. Some members have noted that they included their infection control expenses in their initial report and were concerned they wouldn’t have sufficient infection control expenses to offset the NHIC funds received for the second reporting period. HRSA has stated that providers can choose how and when they apply expenses and lost revenues to their PRF even reporting “0” expenses and using all PRF for eligible lost revenues. This flexibility would allow a nursing home to not report any infection control expenses in the first reporting period and apply them instead to the NHIC funds they must report on in the second reporting period. This is permitted because the periods of availability — the time in which a provider can use the funds received always begins in January 1, 2020 — for each report overlap. For example, a nursing home who previously included infection control expenses in this first report could revise that report during this short reporting window and remove their infection control expenses from the first report and wait to report them in the second reporting period where they could be applied towards the NHIC payments as part of their Reporting Period 2 and/or 3 submission. HRSA will post additional details on this short reporting window on the HRSA PRF website, likely under the Reporting tab, beginning at 9 a.m. on Monday, December 13.

HRSA reporting resources can be found at: https://www.hrsa.gov/provider-relief/reporting-auditing/reporting-resources.

For assistance with reporting or portal questions, members can contact the Provider Support Line at 866-569-3522.

Questions?

Contact:

David Carter
Director Health Care Finance & Policy
c: 360.888.5702