United States Representative Mike Johnson announced on Friday the Department of Health and Human Services is awarding $474.8 million to Louisiana healthcare facilities. The award is available to all healthcare facilities that received Medicare fee-for-service reimbursements, and the amount is based on how much a given provider billed Medicare fee-for-service in 2019.
The funding is the first round of expidited payments to healthcare facilities authorized under the CARES Act. Under the act, a total of $100 billion was allocated into Public Health and Social Service Emergency Fund. More information on how the funding is allocated can be found here.
The funding can be used to support healthcare services, healthcare-related expenses, and lost revenue due to the coronavirus pandemic.
"Louisiana has been severely impacted by COVID-19, so it is critical that our health facilities have the resources they need to care for patients. I am encouraged to see more funding headed to our Louisiana health care providers who are working around the clock to try to mitigate the coronavirus pandemic," said Johnson. "We cannot thank our medical professionals and support staff enough for being on the frontlines fighting this unprecedented health crisis. I applaud the Trump administration for allocating this important funding, and I look forward to working with them to ensure facilities with less revenue from Medicare FFS reimbursements also receive the financial support they need."
