Feds Dole Out Millions More in Fourth Phase of COVID Relief Fund
By Joey Berlin

The fourth phase of the federal government’s Provider Relief Fund continues to help out medical practices impacted by COVID-19, with federal health authorities recently announcing yet another round of funding to more than 3,600 practitioners nationwide.

The federal Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is doling out $413 million in this fourth round of payments for Phase 4, including about $43.6 million to 385 Texas practitioners. Phase 4 payments are geared toward reimbursing “smaller providers for a higher percentage of losses during the pandemic and include bonus payments for providers who serve Medicaid, Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and Medicare beneficiaries,” HHS reiterated in its statement on the latest distribution.

Practitioners who receive Provider Relief Fund payments in the first half of 2022 can use them until June 30, 2023.

“Health care providers are doing critical work on the frontlines of the fight against COVID-19,” Carole Johnson, administrator of HHS’ Health Resources and Services Administration, said in the statement. “Provider Relief Fund resources are continuing to help meet these essential needs and maintain access to key health services across the country.”

HHS has now distributed nearly $12 billion in Phase 4 funding since November 2021 to 82,000 practitioners across every state, Washington, D.C., and five territories. Some applicants are still waiting on Phase 4 funds; HHS says it has now processed about 89% of all applications for this phase and is working to process remaining applications that require “additional manual review.” (After announcing the last round of payments in late January, HHS said it had processed about 82% of applications.)

Combining Phase 4 and about $7.5 billion in payments to rural practitioners and suppliers under the American Rescue Plan, HHS has awarded more than $19 billion over the past four months.

Last Updated On

April 12, 2022

Originally Published On

March 25, 2022

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