HHS Announces Provider Relief Fund Distribution

Hello, Fellow Dentists:

As you all begin to re-open and enter another month of the COVID-19 pandemic, the ADA has been working with the leadership of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to make sure dentists are prioritized in the CARES Act Provider Relief Fund. This $175 billion fund was established by Congress through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, otherwise known as the CARES Act.

In mid-April, after the ADA led a coalition of dental stakeholders that sent a letter to HHS Sec. Alex Azar, both ADA and HHS leadership began working on how this fund could best provide relief to dentists. Soon after our initial talks, HHS confirmed dentists would be included and today I am happy to report Medicaid and CHIP dentists will see some relief from this fund.

HHS announced today that eligible Medicaid and CHIP providers can report their annual patient revenue, which will be used as a factor in determining their Provider Relief Fund payment with a total of $15 billion being dedicated for these providers. The payment to each provider will be at least 2 percent of reported gross revenue from patient care with the final amount each provider receives determined after the data is submitted, including information about the number of Medicaid patients served by the provider.

To be eligible for this funding, dentists must not have received payments from an earlier $50 billion Provider Relief Fund General Distribution and either have directly billed their state Medicaid/CHIP programs or Medicaid managed care plans for health care-related services between Jan. 1, 2018 to May 31, 2020.

HHS has also said under additional allocations from the Provider Relief Fund, that “separate funding will be distributed to other providers, including dentists.”

Thank you for your continued advocacy. Together, we will make a difference! Be sure to stay updated on this and other COVID-19 work at www.ada.org/virus.

Stay well,

Chad P. Gehani, DDS
President