Yesterday, the ADA emailed members to clarify concerns about applying for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Provider Relief Fund. As a reminder, all dentists with a verifiable dental provider Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) are allowed to apply for funding through the extended deadline of Monday, August 3.

Balance Billing

Regarding balance billing, also known as surprise billing, ADA worked with HHS to clarify that:

• Dental providers who are not caring for patients with presumptive or actual cases of COVID-19 are not subject to balance billing prohibitions. ‘Presumptive’ is defined as a case where a patient's medical record documentation supports a diagnosis of COVID-19.
• HHS thinks few, if any, dentists are performing dental work on active COVID patients. So, there should be very few dental patients covered by this bar.
• Qualifying for payment from the PRF has to do with past treatment earlier this year when HHS broadly viewed every patient as a possible case of COVID-19. Balance billing prohibitions apply only to treating current active COVID-19 patients with a medical record that supports a diagnosis of COVID-19.

Reporting Requirements

• For those concerned about reporting requirements, HHS did release a notice stating that detailed instructions regarding future reports will be released by August 17 and will apply to payments exceeding $10,000 in the aggregate from the PRF.
• The reporting system will become available to recipients for reporting on October 1, 2020. The reports will allow providers to demonstrate compliance with the terms and conditions, including use of funds for allowable purposes.
• Recipients of PRF payments do not need to submit a separate quarterly report to HHS or the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee.
• There are plans by HHS to provide recipients with Question and Answer (Q&A) Sessions via webinar in advance of the submission deadline.

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Upcoming Webinars

HHS Webinar for Dentists & Medicaid/CHIP Providers
Monday, July 27
12 PM PT
Register

ADA Webinar: Updates on Provider Relief Fund, SBA Loans, Labor Issues, and Congressional Action
Tuesday, July 28
5 PM PT
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