UK CARES: American Rescue Plan Act Rural Distribution

On November 23, 2021, HRSA began distributing ARP Rural payments. Applicants receiving payments have received both an email notification and a paper letter with additional detail on their aggregate payment, including individual payment amount(s) attributable to any eligible subsidiary billing TINs included in their application. HRSA has distributed nearly $7.5 billion in ARP Rural payments to more than 43,000 providers. The CARES Act appropriated $100 billion to establish a Provider Relief Fund to distribute payments to health care entities across the country that have been affected by COVID-19. Earlier this month, HHS began the delivery of an initial $30 billion in relief funding. On April 22, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced additional allocations of money appropriated for the CARES Act Provider Relief Fund, which accounts for $70.4 billion in total funding. The general and targeted allocations of the CARES Act Provider Relief Fund is as follows: $50 billion of the Provider Relief Fund is allocated for general distribution to Medicare facilities and providers impacted by COVID-19, based on eligible providers’ 2018 net patient revenue. The general distribution is available to all Medicare providers, including hospitals, independent physician groups, and skilled nursing facilities.