HRSA Refines Reporting Rules for COVID Aid to Rural Providers
Published Date: 1/7/2026
Notice
Summary
HRSA is updating how health care providers report on COVID-19 Provider Relief Fund and American Rescue Plan Rural payments they received. These providers must keep sharing info to show they used the money properly. Comments on these changes are open until February 6, 2026, so everyone can weigh in before final approval.
Analyzed Economic Effects
6 provisions identified: 2 benefits, 4 costs, 0 mixed.
Who Must File: $10,000 Threshold
If you are a health care provider who received more than $10,000 in aggregate COVID-19 Provider Relief Fund (PRF) and American Rescue Plan (ARP) Rural payments during any listed Payment Received Period, you are required to submit a report in the HRSA Consolidated PRF Reporting Portal during the applicable Reporting Time Period. The Payment Received Periods include: April 10, 2020–June 30, 2020; July 1, 2020–December 31, 2020; January 1, 2021–June 30, 2021; July 1, 2021–December 31, 2021; January 1, 2022–June 30, 2022; July 1, 2022–December 31, 2022; and January 1, 2023–June 30, 2023.
Fewer Data Fields to Submit
HRSA reduced the number of data elements providers can submit in the PRF and ARP Rural Reporting Portal from 123 elements to approximately 53 elements and consolidated some expenditure fields (for example, PRF interest earned and nursing home infection control payment expenditures) into overall totals.
New Repayment ID Field
HRSA will add one new data element called the Repayment ID, which HRSA generates and provides in the email offering a recipient an Opportunity to Report; providers must enter this Repayment ID in the HRSA Consolidated PRF Reporting Portal when reporting.
Reporting Still Required in Limited Cases
Although standard reporting time periods have ended, providers must still submit reports in specific scenarios: if they receive a Final Repayment Notice and are given an Opportunity to Report, if an adjudicative order requires an opportunity to report, or if a provider prevailed in a dispute or entered a settlement that requires reporting.
Estimated Reporting Time Burden
HRSA estimates the total annualized burden for this information collection at 629.05 hours across the covered reporting responses (100 total responses), with per-response average burdens ranging roughly from 4.22 to 7.37 hours depending on the reporting period.
Removed Reporting Periods Linked to PHE End
HRSA updated the supplemental 'Post-Payment Notice of Reporting Requirements' to remove reporting periods 8 and 9 (including their payment received period and period of availability dates) because the Public Health Emergency ended on May 11, 2023.
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