In the News

BOSSIER CITY, La. (KTAL/KMSS) – Louisiana health care facilities are about to get $474.8 million in Medicare reimbursements to help cover services, expenses, and lost revenue due to the coronavirus pandemic.

This support will help 4,944 health care providers that have been responding to the coronavirus crisis in Louisiana.

“Doctors, nurses and emergency medical technicians at Louisiana hospitals have saved countless lives. This $475 million of HHS funding will help our state’s health care providers keep their doors wide open to our families and neighbors. Now isn’t the time to cut care or cut corners, and I’m glad to see the CARES Act in action,” Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), a member of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies.

The payments are part of the federal government’s immediate delivery of $30 billion to health providers on the front lines of the pandemic. The funding comes from the first round of expedited payments to health care facilities authorized under the $2.2 trillion CARES Act, the largest economic relief package ever passed by Congress.

U.S. Representative Mike Johnson (LA-04) says the award is available to all health care facilities that received Medicare fee-for-service (FFS) reimbursements, and the amount is based on how much a given provider billed Medicare fee-for-service in 2019. The funding can be used to support health care services, health care-related expenses and lost revenue due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“Louisiana has been severely impacted by COVID-19, so it is critical that our health facilities have the resources they need to care for patients. I am encouraged to see more funding headed to our Louisiana health care providers who are working around the clock to try to mitigate the coronavirus pandemic,” Johnson said in a statement announcing the funding. “We cannot thank our medical professionals and support staff enough for being on the frontlines fighting this unprecedented health crisis. I applaud the Trump administration for allocating this important funding, and I look forward to working with them to ensure facilities with less revenue from Medicare FFS reimbursements also receive the financial support they need.”

Overall, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act provides $100 billion through the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) into a Public Health and Social Service Emergency Fund to provide relief to cover costs connected to health care costs and lost revenue resulting from the coronavirus. The money is not a loan and does not need to be repaid.

For more information about how this funding is being allocated, click here.