radar Health Law Scan

Legal Insights and Perspectives for the Healthcare Industry
Members of our healthcare team recently published a LawFlash discussing the announcement by the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that it will make $25.5 billion available in new COVID-19 relief funds to providers through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). To that end, HRSA will disburse $17 billion in Phase 4 payments remaining from the CARES Act Provider Relief Fund (PRF) to a “broad range of providers” based on lost revenues and expenses between July 1, 2020 and March 31, 2021.
The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced on Friday, January 15, 2021, one month before the former reporting deadline, that it will push back the CARES Act Provider Relief Fund (PRF) reporting timeline due to the enactment of the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2021 (the Act).
Our finance, corporate and business transactions, litigation, and tax teams recently published a LawFlash discussing the new coronavirus (COVID-19) relief stimulus package that is part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (CAA), highlighting key provisions and guidance for small businesses seeking to participate in the revived Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).
Our tax team published a LawFlash on the recently released Internal Revenue Service Revenue Ruling 2020-27 and Revenue Procedure 2020-51, which provide guidance on the deductibility of certain expenses paid or incurred in a taxpayer’s business using loan proceeds from a “covered loan” provided under the CARES Act’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP).
The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued two welcome announcements on October 22 relating to the CARES Act Relief Fund Provider Relief Fund (PRF). First, the agency expanded the pool of eligible recipients to “include provider applicants such as residential treatment facilities, chiropractors, and eye and vision providers that have not yet received Provider Relief Fund distributions.”
In a stunning move, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has linked reporting and tracking of the incidence and impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) disease to satisfaction of the Medicare Conditions of Participation (CoPs) for hospitals and critical access hospitals, in spite of the federal about-face that has caused confusion concerning that same reporting since the inception of the pandemic.
Congress did not address federal taxation of Provider Relief Fund Payments when the CARES Act became law on March 27, 2020. In this LawFlash, our tax team analyzes the Internal Revenue Service’s recently published answers to frequently asked questions regarding taxation of these payments to healthcare providers.
Congressional stimulus packages appropriated $175 billion in relief funds under the CARES Act and the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Acts for the benefit of hospitals and other healthcare providers in response to losses incurred due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.