Waltz Quoted in Home Health Care News about New CMS Terms for Loan Repayments

Partner Judy Waltz was quoted in the Home Health Care News article, “ [Updated] CMS Announces New, More Provider-Friendly Rules for Advanced and Accelerated Loan Repayment,” about the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recent announcement amending terms for accelerated and advanced payments granted to Medicare-certified health care providers — including home health agencies — during the public health emergency.

Under the new “Continuing Appropriations Act” of 2021 and “Other Extensions Act,” repayment for providers will now begin one year after the advanced or accelerated payments were received.

The accelerated and advanced payment program was expanded in late March, meaning that providers would have been required to make payments starting in August, but when August came around, providers were not forced to begin paying back the money distributed to them. Now, repayment will officially be delayed until one year after the payments were issued. This means that providers will not only be gaining significantly more time to pay CMS back, but they will also be subject to a far lower interest rate if they are unable to repay in the designated time period. Usually, the interest rate would be closer to 10%.

“This makes real accommodations for providers,” said Waltz.. “Overall, the burden on providers is much, much more bearable.”