Inside Health Policy

By: Michelle Stein

Congress’ Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program advisers want to look deeper into how Medicaid provider relief efforts are going, after finding that less than 15% of potentially eligible providers applied for Medicaid relief funding by the end of August. As of mid-September, only $2.2 billion of the $15 billion available had been distributed, according to staff for the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission. HHS in June first made available $15 billion in provider relief funds for those serving Medicaid and CHIP beneficiaries and repeatedly pushed back the application deadlines for that funding due to confusion over provider eligibility and relatively few applications for the relief. Providers had initially been concerned $15 billion wouldn’t be enough, but some found themselves ineligible for the funds or otherwise unable to take advantage of the money. MACPAC staff said about 38% of Medicaid and CHIP providers are potentially eligible for the relief funds, and only 14.8% of the potentially eligible providers had applied for the funds as of Aug. 30. Commissioner Tricia Brooks said it was disturbing how little of the fund has been distributed. She wondered if the commission should recommend the fund again be reopened for applications.

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