Employment Law Report

As we previously reported, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) extended the Accelerated and Advance Payment Programs back in March 2020 to allow providers and suppliers to apply for advances on their Medicare payments to offset their costs and losses incurred at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, then curbed the programs in April. Now, repayments of the first loans are coming due. Absent a Congressional or CMS extension, 120 days after the loans were issued, CMS will recoup the loan amounts via Medicare claim withholding. Hospitals have one year from the date of the loan payment to repay the full balance of the loan, while Medicare Part A providers and Part B suppliers have 210 days. Hospital and provider advocacy groups are asking Congress to extend the recoupment period for loan recipients given the surge in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations and the ongoing precarious financial position of hospitals and providers.