The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on July 17 announced details of how the second round of COVID-19 high-impact or “hot spot” hospitals payments would be distributed.
HHS released a
breakdown showing nearly 1,000 hospitals across the country would receive a total of over $8.5 billion, and HHS has said as much as $10 billion may be distributed. Twelve Wisconsin hospitals will qualify for a total of $79 million in relief. Wisconsin fared much better under this round than it did under the
first “hot spot” round where only two Wisconsin hospitals were eligible.
According to HHS, to be eligible for the funding a hospital must have recorded more than 161 COVID-19 cases as of June 10, 2020, and would receive $50,000 per eligible admission. Alternatively, hospitals that experienced a disproportionate intensity of COVID-19 admissions (exceeding the average ratio of COVID admissions per bed) may also be eligible.
While this is welcome news, Wisconsin hospitals and health systems have received just over $1 billion total of the $115 billion in Provider Relief Funding distributed so far, despite experiencing more than $2.5 billion in lost revenue due to COVID-19 and facing continued future financial uncertainty. WHA continues to advocate with the Wisconsin Congressional Delegation for needed financial assistance for Wisconsin hospitals and health systems as Congress continues its work on its next COVID package. For more information, contact WHA’s Director of Federal and State Relations,
Jon Hoelter.