HHS issues new FAQs on emergency relief fund reporting

The Department of Health and Human Services recently updated its FAQs on the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act emergency relief fund, with specific attention to provider reporting related to these funds.

Providers that have received emergency relief payments do not need to submit a quarterly report to HHS or the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee, according to the FAQs. The statutory requirement for quarterly reports related to these funds is being met by HHS’ public release of the data on each payment it has distributed.

The publicly available data on HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System website includes the name and payment amount for each provider that has attested to receiving the emergency relief funds and agreed to the Terms and Conditions (or has retained their payment for more than 90 days). HHS also is working with the Department of Treasury to post each provider’s total emergency relief fund payment amount on this website. HHS confirms that the public data releases satisfy the CARES Act reporting requirement.

However, according to the FAQs, providers are still required to submit any reports requested by the HHS Secretary that are necessary to allow HHS to ensure compliance with payment Terms and Conditions. As such, HHS will be requiring recipients to submit future reports relating to the recipient’s use of its emergency relief payments.

HHS will notify recipients of the content and due date(s) of such reports in the coming weeks.