18th District Congressman Darin LaHood announced that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has allocated over $81.5 million in funding to health care providers in the district. The funding is part of the first tranche of the Provider Relief Fund authorized in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act. 535 providers including hospitals, rural healthcare facilities and clinics, and providers who billed Medicare were eligible to receive this funding.
228 rural providers statewide will receive $352 million from HHS in the third tranche of funding dedicated specifically to rural communities. A total of $100 billion was allocated by Congress in the CARES Act to support healthcare providers with an additional $75 billion authorized in follow up legislation.
LaHood spokesman John Rauber said via email that HHS has not provided a specific list of providers at this time on who and where funding will be going. LaHood says that the funding will provide critical money to support the local healthcare community as it continues to battle the coronavirus pandemic. The funding has been labeled as payments and not loans to health providers so they will not need to be repaid to the federal government.