Member Article

The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has announced how dentists who bill Medicaid can now access a $15 billion Provider Relief Fund allocated by the CARES Act to cover COVID-related expenses and losses. 

(View announcement here)

To be eligible for this funding, health care providers must not have received payments from the $50 billion Provider Relief Fund General Distribution and either have directly billed their state Medicaid/CHIP programs or Medicaid managed care plans for healthcare-related services between January 1, 2018, to May 31, 2020. Unfortunately, the process for dentists who do not treat Medicaid patients has not been developed but is believed to be forthcoming.

According to HHS, “the payment to each provider will be at least 2 percent of reported gross revenue from patient care; the final amount each provider receives will be determined after the data is submitted, including information about the number of Medicaid patients providers serve.”

The HHS portal for dentists to apply for Provider Relief Funds just opened and will remain open until July 20. Click here for the application form and the Instructions to complete the application.

The application collects more information that has been required for some other providers who previously received Provider Relief Funds and includes disclosure of COVID related relief from other sources. Note that the application includes a methodology to aggregate revenue from acquired entities (and subtraction of divested entities), if the aggregated gross receipts are 20 percent larger or smaller than the adjusted gross revenue number. Applications cannot be amended so accuracy is important.

The following documentation must be uploaded to the application form:

1. The applicant’s most recent federal income tax return for 2017, 2018 or 2019 or a written statement explaining why the applicant is exempt from filing a federal income tax return (e.g. a state-owned hospital or healthcare clinic).

2. The applicant’s Employer’s Quarterly Federal Tax Return on IRS Form 941 for Q1 2020, Employer's Annual Federal Unemployment (FUTA) Tax Return on IRS Form 940, or a statement explaining why the applicant is not required to submit either form (e.g. no employees).

3. The applicant’s FTE Worksheet, provided by HHS and available at: https://www.uhcprovider.com/content/dam/provider/docs/public/other/PRF-FTE-Worksheet.xlsx

4. If required by Field 15, the Gross Revenue Worksheet, provided by HHS and available at: https://www.uhcprovider.com/content/dam/provider/docs/public/other/PRF-Gross-Revenues-Worksheet.xlsx 

It is unknown at this time if there will be sufficient funds for all providers who apply for relief. However, Frequently Asked Questions (“FAQs”) posted on the HHS web page warn providers that corrections cannot be made to the application, so take time to understand the process and confirm the information prior to submission. 

This process for dentists to request assistance comes about two months after the first relief funds were distributed to doctors and other providers who participate in Medicare.