August 21, 2020

In early April, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) made available billions of dollars to healthcare providers through the Advance Payment Program (APP).  The federal agency made clear at the time that, unlike other COVID-era relief programs, the APP amounted to a loan that providers would have to eventually pay back.  Some of our readers applied for and received these emergency funds, and now the payback period is approaching.

According to its own press release back in April, CMS indicated that it would “begin to apply claims payments to offset the accelerated/advance payments 120 days after disbursement.” The agency went on to caution that Part B providers would “have up to 210 days to complete repayment of accelerated and advance payments.”

For those groups that took advantage of this particular loan program and received the disbursed APP funds in late April, the 120 days has run, meaning you may see CMS recouping these funds from your Medicare payments, beginning this month, with the goal of having the entire loan amount repaid within seven months (210 days) from the time you received the APP funds.  According to the American Medical Association (AMA), “if repayment within this timeframe is a hardship for the practice, physicians can request that the MAC provide an extended repayment plan; however, interest is charged on extended repayment plan payments at 10.25 [percent].” 

While there is still some hope that Congress or the Administration will postpone the recoupments or extend the loan period, providers who accessed the loan program should be aware that their expected Medicare payments may take a dip, beginning in the next few days or weeks.  If you took out an APP loan and have questions about how the recoupment might impact your practice, please contact your account executive or reach out to us at info@anesthesiallc.com.

With best wishes,

Tony Mira
President and CEO