The federal government is distributing $15 billion to hospitals and doctors who care for low-income patients covered by Medicaid in a second round of grants to health care providers to offset financial losses due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Another $10 billion will be divided among safety net hospitals that see high volumes of uninsured and Medicaid patients, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. Federal officials did not say when the funding would be disbursed.
The new round of funding follows $50 billion distributed doctors and hospitals who saw patients on Medicare, the federal insurance program for those 65 and older, leaving many providers, such as pediatricians, who don’t see Medicare patients without relief.
Doctors and hospital systems left out of the first round of grants said the new funding won’t by itself offset losses from declines in visits and elective procedures due to COVID-19, but it could help in combination with small business loans and other aid.
“It’s not too little too late,” said Dr. Cesar Ortega, a pediatrician who runs Ortega Medical Clinic in north Houston. “We’re not out of business.”
Half of Texas physicians who see Medicaid patients have seen at least a 50 percent drop in revenue and patient visits since the pandemic began, said Texas Medical Association President Dr. Diana Fite. Many have resorted to paying their rent, utilities and payroll out of their personal bank accounts.
“We will have practices closing,” Fite said, “and less availability for Medicaid and uninsured patients if we don’t get these practices back on their feet again.”
Funding for doctors, who must have billed Medicaid at least once since 2018, will be disbursed based on reported gross revenue and the number of Medicaid patients served. Providers will receive at least two percent of their reported gross revenue back in grants.
“Two percent is not going to really help us if the patient numbers are down 20 to 50 percent,” Ortega said.
Dr. Sogol Pahlavan, a pediatrician, did not receive any money from the first round of funding. She doesn’t expect a lot of help from the second round, noting that providers share a pot of funding less than half of what Medicare providers received in the first round.
“Again, we are treated like step-siblings,” Pahlavan said.
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Two percent of revenues won’t make much of a dent in her losses, Pahlavan said. Sick visits are down 60 percent, and check-ups are down 25 percent at her practice, ABC Pediatric Clinic in east Houston.
Pahlavan said she received a small business loan through the Paycheck Protection Program loan, but that will only cover her costs through July if visits don’t recover.
Safety net hospitals will receive a minimum of $5 million. Officials at Houston’s safety net hospital system, Harris Health System, which oversees Ben Taub Hospital, do not know yet how much the system will receive. But they expect more than the minimum $5 million.
In May, CEO Dr. Esmaeil Porsa estimated the public health system had lost nearly $40 million since the pandemic began in March.
“The formula referenced seems like it will be pretty favorable to safety net systems like ours,” said Bryan McLeod, a Harris Health spokesperson. “Every dollar would help close the gap on some of the added expense and lost revenue we’ve experienced as a result of COVID-19.”
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