WILL MIDLANDS HOSPITALS HAVE TO RETURN SOME OF THEIR COVID RELATED STIMULUS MONEY?

LINCOLN - As the coronavirus pandemic spread across the country, federal relief efforts directed billions toward hospitals and health clinics. But providers are now worried they might be asked to return some of that money. At the time, lawmakers and administration officials were trying to get money out the door as quickly as possible. They wanted to ensure hospitals kept operating with full staffing in the face of the outbreak.

But as time went on, the Department of Health and Human Services adjusted the formula it was using to allocate the money. In some cases that has meant providers receiving less than they expected — and it has left others wondering whether the overpayments from previous allocations will have to be returned.

Reps. Don Bacon, R-Neb., and Cindy Axne, D-Iowa, recently sent a letter to officials at the Department of Health and Human Services laying out the problem. They wrote that providers had been assured the money was for immediate financial relief and are now in limbo wondering how much they will owe and when they will owe it.

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