Dentists Have Until July 24 To Apply For Relief Fund Payments

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has recently announced dentists are also eligible for participation in $175 billion in relief funds to hospitals and other healthcare providers on the front lines of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. This funding supports healthcare-related expenses or lost revenue attributable to COVID-19 and ensures uninsured Americans can get testing and treatment for COVID-19. Deadline to apply is Friday, July 24, 2020.

 

The Provider Relief Fund Payment Attestation Portal and supporting resources are open to all providers who want to apply for a CARES Provider Relief Fund payment, regardless of network affiliation or payer contract.

 

To be eligible to apply, a dental provider must meet ALL of the following requirements:

 

  • Must not have received payment from the initial $50 billion Medicare-focused general distribution.
  • Must not have received payment from the $15 billion Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program distribution.
  • Must have filed a federal income tax return for fiscal years 2017, 2018 or 2019 or be an entity exempt from the requirement to file a federal income tax return and have no beneficial owner that is required to file a federal income tax return (for example, a state-owned hospital or health care clinic).
  • Must have provided patient dental care after Jan. 31.
  • Must not have permanently ceased providing patient dental care directly or indirectly through included subsidiaries. However, dental offices that shut down during the pandemic are eligible.
  • If the applicant is an individual, have gross receipts or sales from providing patient dental care reported on Form 1040, Schedule C, Line 1, excluding income reported on a W-2 as a statutory employee.

HHS will use a curated list of dental practice Taxpayer Identification Numbers to determine eligibility, but it will work to validate applicants who are not on the list. Providers with TINs on the list must meet other eligibility requirements, including operating in good standing and not being excluded from receiving federal payments. When entering their TIN in the portal, dentists should not use dashes as this will result in their number not processing correctly.

Dentists who previously received payments from the Medicare general distribution or the Medicaid and CHIP distribution — even if they rejected and returned the payment — are not eligible to apply now, but they may be eligible in future distributions of the fund, according to HHS. The ADA has been advocating for this eligibility restriction to be lifted.

 

Providers who have received funding must attest to the funds and agree to the Program Terms and Conditions, or agree to return the funds within 90 days of payment. Note that by accepting funds, the recipient consents to HHS publicly disclosing the payments that recipient has received from the Relief Fund.

 

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