Hospitals Ask Congress for Additional $25 Billion in COVID-19 Relief Funding
- January 28, 2022
Hospitals are urging Congress to allocate an additional $25 billion to the Provider Relief Fund (PRF) as they continue to experience lost revenues and increased expenses from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
In a letter to congressional leaders, the American Hospital Association (AHA) also called for immediately disbursing the remaining funds in the $178 billion PRF, extending the deadline to spend funds, and allowing the funds to be used for security measures and training expenses.
AHA also asked Congress to extend Medicare sequester relief until the later of the end of the COVID-19 public health emergency or December 31, 2022. At the end of last year, Congress blocked the 2% Medicare sequester for three months from January 1, 2022 to March 31, 2022. For an additional three months after that, from April 1, 2022 to June 30, 2022, the Medicare sequester is reduced from 2% to 1%.