HHS announces plan to send out COVID-19 Medicaid payments

The Trump administration announced Tuesday how $25 billion from COVID-19 response legislation enacted this spring will begin to be distributed to eligible providers serving low-income patients during the pandemic.

The announcement comes less than a week after leaders from health committees sent a rare bipartisan, bicameral letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar criticizing the delay in distributing the funds.

Congress appropriated $175 billion in health care provider relief funds through two COVID-19 laws. The letter last week from the House Energy and Commerce and Senate Finance committees urged HHS to act quickly to provide the Medicaid portion of the relief funds,