Beaver County News

JIM CHRISTIANA FOR SENATE issued the following announcement on April 11. 

Funds are available at the state and federal level for Pennsylvania hospitals and health care providers who struggling financially and are preparing for a surge in COVID-19 patients.

Funds are available at the state and federal level for Pennsylvania hospitals and healthcare providers who struggling financially and are preparing for a surge in COVID-19 patients.

At the state level, Gov. Tom Wolf announced Friday a loan program called the Hospital Emergency Loan Program, or HELP, that will provide short-term financial relief to Pennsylvania’s hospitals.

HELP is a $450 million loan package that will be available to the commonwealth’s hospitals to provide “immediate financial support for working capital to ensure that these facilities have sufficient personnel, equipment, and personal protective equipment,” according to a release.

“The combination of increased costs and reduced revenue has hurt many hospitals financially,” Wolf said in a release. “We must support our hospitals through this unprecedented time. When this pandemic finally ends, we’re going to need hospitals to care for our regular medical needs, like heart attacks and broken bones. This new loan program will provide immediate relief to our hospitals, which are on the frontlines of this pandemic.”

On the federal level, U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey on Friday announced that Pennsylvania hospitals and healthcare providers will receive $1.25 billion of the first $30 billion disbursement of the Provider Relief Fund authorized by the CARES Act, according to a release.

On March 27, President Donald Trump signed the bipartisan CARES Act, which provides $100 billion in relief funds to hospitals, healthcare providers and others on the frontline of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

“Pennsylvanians have access to dedicated healthcare workers, world-class care, and the top medical innovators in the world. Implementing the CARES Act and delivering $1.25 billion to hospitals and providers in Pennsylvania will help cover COVID-19-related expenses and care for patients in need,” Toomey, R-Lehigh County, said in a release.

As of Friday, the first $30 billion was sent to eligible healthcare providers, including facilities and providers that received Medicare fee-for-service (FFS) reimbursements in 2019, according to the HHS.

Providers will be distributed a portion of the initial $30 billion based on their share of total Medicare FFS reimbursements in 2019.

The HHS has partnered with UnitedHealth Group to provide payment to providers. Payment will arrive via Automated Clearing House account information on file with either the UnitedHealth Group or with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, according to the HHS.

The remaining $70 billion will likely go toward providers especially impacted by COVID-19, including rural providers, providers with lower shares of Medicare reimbursement or who predominantly serve the Medicaid populations, and to providers requesting reimbursement for treatment of uninsured Americans.

“Pennsylvania’s hospitals and health care providers are leading the charge in the fight against COVID-19,” Toomey said.

According to a release from Toomey’s office, 12,661 Pennsylvania healthcare providers are receiving $1,246,250,076.

Pennsylvania healthcare facilities licensed as hospitals by the Pennsylvania Department of Health under the Health Care Facilities Act of 1979 that are eligible to receive federal grant funding through the CARES Act are also eligible for HELP. The maximum loan size is $10 million per hospital at an interest rate of 0.5 percent, according to a release.

Applications for HELP will be available on the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development’s website starting at 10 a.m. Monday through April 20. The costs must be incurred between March 1 and Sept. 1.

Permitted expenses under HELP will mirror those under the CARES Act, according to a release from Wolf’s office, allowing hospitals to close out their loan with CARES funding once it is received.

Original source here.