Employment Law Report

April 17, 2020

Beginning April 10, 2020, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) disbursed $30 billion of the $100 billion of Emergency Relief Fund provided under the CARES Act. Although Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Seema Verma had stated that the Relief Fund payments have “no strings attached,” any provider who received a payment must sign an Attestation agreeing to certain Terms and Conditions.The Terms & Conditions include an agreement to comply with limitations on the use of the payments (i.e., only for COVID19-related care) and to submit reports regarding how the payment was used. The Attestation is to be submitted via the CARES Act Provider Relief Fund Payment Attestation Portal available on the HHS CARES Act Provider Relief Fund webpage. For additional information about the Terms & Conditions associated with the Relief Fund payments, see the article authored by Kathie McDonald-McClure and Victoria Fuller.