On June 11, 2021, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released new guidance on the Provider Relief Fund (PRF).
HHS extended the deadline by which recipients must spend some of the PRF funding they received. HHS made several PRF distributions throughout the public health emergency. Prior to this guidance, recipients had until June 30, 2021 to spend all of the PRF money they received. Recipients will still need to spend the PRF money they received between April 10, 2020, and June 30, 2020, by June 30, 2021. However, HHS is extending the deadline to spend PRF payments received after June 30, 2020.
Those new deadlines are based on when the PRF funding was received by the recipient. The deadlines for each “payment period” are:
| Payment Period | Payment Received Period (Payments Exceeding $10,000 in Aggregate Received) | Deadline to Use Funds | Reporting Time Period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Period 1 | From April 10, 2020 to June 30, 2020 |
June 30, 2021 | July 1 to September 30, 2021 |
| Period 2 | From July 1, 2020 to December 31, 2020 |
December 31, 2021 | January 1 to March 31, 2022 |
| Period 3 | From January 1, 2021 to June 30, 2021 |
June 30, 2022 | July 1 to September 30, 2022 |
| Period 4 | From July 1, 2021 to December 31, 2021 |
December 31, 2022 | January 1 to March 31, 2023 |
Recipients are required to report for each payment period in which they received one or more payments exceeding, in the aggregate, $10,000 (rather than $10,000 cumulatively across all PRF payments).
HHS is extending the reporting window for each period from 30 to 90 days. The PRF Reporting Portal will open on July 1. Recipients will need to report information related to how the funding was used and other assistance that was received. The guidance document goes into greater detail about the information that recipients must report.
