Medicare Compliance & Reimbursement

“In light of the challenges providers across the country are facing due to recent natural disasters and the Delta variant, HHS is announcing … a final 60-day grace period to help providers come into compliance with their PRF Reporting requirements if they fail to meet the deadline on September 30, 2021, for the first PRF Reporting Time Period,” HHS says in a Sept. 10 release.

Reminder: Back in June, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) announced four PRF reporting periods and related due dates, with the first due date set for Sept. 30. If providers can’t substantiate their COVID costs and losses with their reports, they must pay back the funds.

However, don’t think the grace period is carte blanche to ignore the reports. “The deadlines to use funds and the Reporting Time Period will not change,” HHS emphasizes. But “HHS will not initiate collection activities or similar enforcement actions for noncompliant providers during this grace period,” the agency allows.

More important details about the grace period:

• “This grace period only pertains to the Reporting Period 1 report submission deadline,” HRSA says on its PRF reporting and auditing webpage. “There is no change to the Period of Availability for use of PRF payments.”
• The grace period begins on Oct. 1, 2021, and ends on Nov. 30, 2021, HRSA specifies;
• “Providers should return unused funds as soon as possible after submitting their report,” HRSA stresses. “All unused funds must be returned no later than 30 days after the end of the grace period,” — Dec. 30, 2021.

More PRF reporting information is at www.hrsa.gov/providerrelief/reporting-auditing.