Health care providers eligible for $25.5 billion in COVID-19 relief
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released $25.5 billion from the provider relief fund to assist health care providers facing financial problems due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The funds were released following a push from U.S. Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) in the wake of three Maine nursing homes closing and others struggling to stay open.
The funds include $8.5 billion to set aside for rural providers and $17 billion for providers who can document revenue losses and expenses related to the pandemic.
“The pandemic has taken an enormous toll on our health care providers, particularly long-term care facilities and rural hospitals, and we cannot ignore the financial realities they face,” Collins said in a statement. “The release of this additional funding will help prevent more health care facilities from closing their doors and protect patients’ access to care.”
Over the course of the pandemic, Congress has appropriated $178 billion for the provider relief fund, as well as an additional $8.5 billion for rural providers, however, the Government Accountability Office recently found that 25 percent of the funding remained unspent.
Three Maine nursing homes have announced plans to close: the Country Manor in Coopers Mills, a village of Whitefield, the Island Nursing Home and Care Center on Deer Isle, and the Somerset Rehabilitation and Living Center in Bingham.
Earlier this month, the Mills administration said it would release $146 million in state and federal funds to hospitals, nursing homes, residential care facilities, and adult care homes to aid workforce recruitment and retention.
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