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Congress must act to continue funding for the federal government to avoid a shutdown before Sept. 30, the end of the federal fiscal year. Today, the House of Representatives released its proposal to fund the federal government through Dec. 11, 2020.
The House is expected to vote on the proposal this week. The timing and content of a Senate proposal are less clear.
Included in the House package, known as a continuing resolution, is a CHA-supported provision to modify the Medicare Accelerated and Advanced Payment Programs implemented during the COVID-19 public health emergency. These proposed modifications include revising the original repayment obligation for providers from a 12-month repayment period to 29 months from the date of the first payment, and reducing the interest rate from 10.25% to 4%.
Additionally, the proposed modifications limit the amount the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) can recoup from ongoing Medicare payments. They also include this more structured recoupment schedule for CMS:
- During the first 11 months, CMS could not recoup more than 25% of the ongoing Medicare payments.
- For months 12 through 18, CMS could not recoup more than 50% of the ongoing Medicare payments.
- Full repayment is expected to CMS by the 29th month.
The continuing resolution would also require the Health and Human Services Secretary to publish the total Accelerated and Advanced Payments issued to each provider, the total amounts recouped, and the total interest collected.
