The 60-day grace period to complete the first round of required reporting for the Provider Relief Fund (PRF) will end at 11:59 pm EST on November 30^th, 2021.  PRF recipients who did not complete the necessary reporting by the original deadline of September 30^th were considered out of compliance, but no enforcement action will occur until after the grace period as ended. All unused funds must be returned no later than 30 days after the end of the grace period (so, December 30, 2021). At this point, it is unknown if HHS will offer additional grace periods for the next reporting deadlines upcoming in 2022.

The time periods to use and report on PRF funds remains as followed:

 

	Payment Received Period	Deadline to Use Funds	Reporting Time Period
Period 1	April 10, 2020 – June 30, 2020	June 30, 2021	July 1, 2021 – September 30, 2021 Grace period ends November 30, 2021
Period 2	July 1, 2020 – December 31-2020	December 31, 2021	January 1, 2022 – March 31, 2022
Period 3	January 1, 2021 – June 30, 2021	June 30, 2022	July 1, 2022 – September 30, 2022
Period 4	July 1, 2021 – December 31, 2021	December 31, 2022	January 1, 2023 – March 31, 2023

To assist with reporting, the following resources are available:

• Post-payment notice of reporting requirements – June 11^th : CLICK HERE
• Portal User Guide – Registration: CLICK HERE
• Portal User Guide – Reporting: CLICK HERE
• Portal FAQS: CLICK HERE
• Reporting FAQs: CLICK HERE

 

Additional assistance or questions can be directed the HHS Provider Support Line at (866) 569-3522.

Distribution of Phase 4 of the PRF, which includes updated distribution methodology to target funds towards rural and smaller practices, has begun as of November 23^rd.  Eligible providers who applied for this latest round should expect individual communications when final payment determinations are made throughout December.

As always, ADVOCATE will continue to keep you informed on the issues impacting medical groups as they develop.

Kayley Jaquet

Manager, Regulatory Affairs