The AHA today urged the Department of Health and Human Services and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to exercise existing authorities to waive interest or substantially reduce the interest rate on any balance owed on accelerated/advanced payments made under section 3719 of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act and the March 28 expansion announcement by CMS.

The “high interest rate can put hospitals at further financial risk while they are already vulnerable, and may prevent hospitals from requesting crucial accelerated/advanced payments,” AHA wrote.

AHA said that HHS and CMS have at least four mechanisms available to waive or reduce interest on accelerated/advanced payments owed and none requires rulemaking. These include waiving the imposition or collection of interest utilizing HHS’ existing waiver authority; employing CMS authority to refrain from issuing a demand letter; announcing that HHS will use the 2% interest rate set by the Secretary of the Treasury; or entering into a contract/repayment arrangement that uses a lower interest rate.

Related News Articles

Headline
The Food and Drug Administration July 15 announced a recall by Sandoz on certain lots of cefazolin, due to the lots being mislabeled as penicillin G potassium…
Headline
 The Food and Drug Administration July 10 approved Moderna’s Spikevax COVID-19 vaccine for children under 12 with at least one underlying condition that…
Headline
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration June 30 released a proposed rule to remove what remains of its emergency temporary standard for occupational…
Headline
Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. May 27 announced in a post on X that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention…
Headline
Leaders of the Food and Drug Administration May 20 announced new guidelines for administering the COVID-19 vaccine in a paper published by the New England…
Headline
A study published April 8 by the Public Library of Science’s Journal of Global Public Health found that driving while infected with COVID-19 raises the risk of…