Coronavirus-Related Funding FAQs
If the answer to your question is not located here or in one of the following resources, please submit it through the BPHC Contact Form or call 877-464-4772, option 2, 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. ET, Monday-Friday (except federal holidays).
Access more COVID-19 Information for Health Centers and Partners.
Access additional COVID-19 Frequently Asked Questions.
Access American Rescue Plan Funding for Health Centers Frequently Asked Questions.
Funding Purpose and Methodology
On Tuesday, March 24, 2020, HRSA released $100 million in funding provided by the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2020 (PDF - 259 KB) (activity code H8C). For additional information, see the COVID-19 technical assistance webpage.
On Wednesday, April 8, 2020, HRSA released more than $1.3 billion in funding provided by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act (PDF) (activity code H8D). For additional information, see the CARES technical assistance webpage.
On Thursday, May 7, 2020, HRSA released approximately $583 million in Expanding Capacity for Coronavirus Testing (ECT) funding provided by the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act (PDF - 287 KB) (activity code H8E) (PDF). For additional information, see the ECT technical assistance webpage.
On Thursday, July 9, 2020, HRSA released more than $17 million in Look-Alikes: Expanding Capacity for Coronavirus Testing (LAL ECT) funding provided by the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act (PDF - 287 KB) (activity code L1C) (PDF) to support 78 Health Center Program look-alikes in expanding capacity for COVID-19 testing. For additional information, see the LAL ECT technical assistance webpage.
On Thursday, April 1, 2021, HRSA released more than $6.1 billion in funding provided by the American Rescue Plan Act (PDF) (PDF - 766 KB) for health centers (activity code H8F). For additional information, see the H8F technical assistance webpage and the American Rescue Plan Funding for Health Centers Frequently Asked Questions.
On Thursday, July 15, 2021, HRSA released nearly $144 million in funding provided by the American Rescue Plan Act (PDF) for Health Center Program look-alikes (activity code L2C). For additional information, see the ARP-LAL technical assistance webpage and the American Rescue Plan Funding for Look-Alikes Frequently Asked Questions.
On Tuesday, September 28, 2021, HRSA released nearly $1 billion in funding provided by the American Rescue Plan Act (PDF) to support major health care construction and renovation projects at health centers (activity code C8E). For additional information, see the American Rescue Plan – Health Center Construction and Capital Improvements technical assistance webpage and the American Rescue Plan – Health Center Construction and Capital Improvements Frequently Asked Questions.
In fiscal year 2020, HRSA awarded nearly $12.9 million to support training and technical assistance to enhance health centers’ COVID-19 response:
- More than $5.8 million to 52 Primary Care Associations.
- Nearly $2.5 million to 21 National Training and Technical Assistance Partners.
- More than $4.5 million to 49 Health Center Controlled Networks.
In fiscal year 2021, HRSA awarded over $32 million in American Rescue Plan funding to support COVID-19 related training, technical assistance, and health information technology support:
- Approximately $16.3 million to 52 Primary Care Associations.
- Approximately $5.5 million to 21 National Training and Technical Assistance Partners.
- Approximately $10.5 million to 49 Health Center Controlled Networks.
(Updated: 10/7/2021)
The purpose of the H8C and H8D awards is to:
- Respond to the COVID-19 public health emergency; and
- Maintain or increase health center capacity.
Based on language in the CARES Act, both H8C and H8D awards may be used for current payment and reimbursement of costs incurred since January 20, 2020, related to the detection of SARS-CoV-2 or the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of COVID-19, including maintaining or increasing health center capacity and staffing levels during the COVID-19 public health emergency. This includes costs necessary to support the provision of COVID-19 therapeutics and vaccines, including related costs for personnel, equipment, and supplies.
Your health center may rebudget your H8C or H8D award as needed to cover allowable costs differently than originally proposed. As a reminder, if you rebudget your award for more than 25% of your total award, or to a line item that previously had no federal funds or for equipment costs, you are required to submit a prior approval rebudgeting request via HRSA’s Electronic Handbooks. Contact your Grants Management Specialist with questions about rebudgeting requests.
The purpose of the ECT funding (H8E) is to purchase, administer, and expand capacity for testing to monitor and suppress COVID-19. Funding may support a wide-range of testing and testing-related in-scope activities that may change as COVID-19 needs evolve within your community.
More information is available on the Coronavirus-Related Supplemental Funding Allowable Uses Technical Assistance Resource.
(Updated: 12/14/2020)
HRSA used the following distribution formula:
- Base value of $50,464, plus
- $0.50 per patient reported in the 2018 Uniform Data System (UDS), plus
- $2.50 per uninsured patient reported in the 2018 UDS.
The awards range from approximately $50,000 to more than $300,000, with an average of approximately $70,000 per health center.
(Added: 3/24/2020)
HRSA used the following distribution formula:
- Base value of $503,000, plus
- $15.00 per patient reported in the 2018 UDS, plus
- $30.00 per uninsured patient reported in the 2018 UDS.
The average award is approximately $950,000.
(Added: 4/9/2020)
HRSA used the following distribution formula:
- Base value of $98,329, plus
- $15.00 per patient reported in the 2019 UDS (public release of 2019 UDS data is scheduled for August 2020).
(Added: 5/7/2020)
To support tracking of coronavirus-related spending throughout the government, supplemental awards were issued separately from a health center’s operational (H80) grant award with the activity codes H8C, H8D, and H8E. As is the case with other supplemental funding, health centers will need to separately track and account for their H8C, H8D, and H8E activities supported through this funding.
(Updated: 5/7/2020)
The performance period is 12 months for these one-time supplemental awards. Refer to each Notice of Award for specific start and end dates. Funding is available for immediate use, and pre-award costs are permitted to support coronavirus-related expenses dating back to January 20, 2020.
(Updated: 5/7/2020)
HRSA awarded one-time COVID-19 (H8C), CARES (H8D), and ECT (H8E) funding, each with a 12-month period of performance. If you need additional time (up to 12 months) to complete your approved project or program-related activities, you must submit a separate Extension Without Funds (no cost extension) prior approval request to HRSA. Extension requests must be made through HRSA's Electronic Handbooks prior to the project period end date of your award. You may not use this one-time extension to expend unused funds for new or additional project or program-related activities. All extension requests are subject to HRSA approval. Contact your Grants Management Specialist with any additional questions.
(Added: 11/25/2020)
Health Center Program look-alikes are eligible for one-time HRSA funding to support expanding capacity for coronavirus testing under the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act (PDF). For additional information, see the LAL ECT technical assistance webpage.
In addition, look-alikes may be eligible for reimbursement or compensation from other federal or state programs, including but not limited to the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program, the Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund, or unemployment compensation for their staff. In applying for and accepting these loans or funding, look-alikes should review the programs’ respective requirements to determine their eligibility, adhere to any conditions and terms, and consult with the relevant organization or agency making the loans or grants for further guidance.
(Updated: 5/20/2020)
Health centers will use the same PIN they use to access their H80 grant funding through the Payment Management System (PMS). If you experience any issues accessing your supplemental grant funding, please contact your PMS accountant, whom you can identify through Find Your PMS Liaison Accountant, and/or contact the assigned Grants Management Specialist identified in your Notice of Award.
(Updated: 5/7/2020)
No, although the files must be an acceptable format to upload to HRSA’s Electronic Handbooks. Refer questions regarding acceptable formats to Health Center Program Support, following the submission instructions on the technical assistance webpages for COVID-19, CARES, or ECT supplemental funding.
(Added: 5/7/2020)
Maintaining Capacity and Personnel Support
Many health centers are experiencing reductions in revenue due to COVID-19 related closures and limitations on non-urgent care. While federal award funds do not replace lost revenue (e.g., reimbursement for dental or primary care visits from public and private health insurance sources), health centers are permitted to increase their reliance on grant funds to cover fixed operational costs.
This increased reliance on grant funds is an allowable expenditure under H80, H8C, and H8D funds. Such operational costs are allowable under H8E if they support COVID-19 testing-related in-scope activities. Your health center may use H8C, H8D, and H8E funds to cover allowable operational costs going back to January 20, 2020.
Your health center may also rebudget your H80 award as needed to cover allowable operational costs differently than originally proposed (e.g., move personnel originally budgeted under your H80 grant to another cost center), for obligations incurred since January 20, 2020. As a reminder, if you rebudget your H80 award for more than 25% or to a line item that previously had no federal funds, grants rules require you to submit a prior approval request to your Grants Management Specialist (GMS) via HRSA’s Electronic Handbooks. Your GMS will work to expedite review and approval for any rebudgeting requests.
Separate from Health Center Program funding, health centers may be eligible to be reimbursed or compensated for lost revenues through other federal or state programs. For information on other resources available during the COVID-19 public health emergency, see the Health Center Program’s COVID-19 Frequently Asked Questions.
(Updated: 5/19/2020)
Restrictions on non-emergency dental services, voluntary delays in patients seeking care due to social distancing mandates and recommendations, temporary site closures due to school closures, or the need for staff to self-isolate due to potential exposure, mean that providers and staff may be temporarily unable to fully contribute their services to patients and/or to the health center.
Health centers may use H80, H8C and H8D grant funds or non-grant funds to continue to pay staff as a means of maintaining capacity during the COVID-19 public health emergency and to help ensure readiness to address the full range of comprehensive primary health care needs, including pent up demand, as the emergency abates. This includes the use of funds for obligations incurred during the course of the emergency, since January 20, 2020, either for current payment or reimbursement of incurred costs, including staff salaries.
Health centers may use H8E grant funds or non-grant funds to continue to pay staff as a means of maintaining or expanding COVID testing capacity. For example, health centers may pay staff necessary to support implementation or expansion of COVID-19 testing that is temporarily limited by availability of testing sites, test kits, or related supplies.
You must document that you are following your organizational policy for charging salaries during unexpected and extraordinary circumstances. You must also maintain appropriate records and cost documentation as required by 45 CFR § 75.302 - Financial Management and Standards for Financial Management Systems, and 45 CFR § 75.361 - Retention Requirement for Records, to substantiate the charging of any salaries and other project activities costs related to interruption of operations or services. For additional information, refer to COVID-19 Grantee Frequently Asked Questions.
HRSA strongly encourages health centers to explore re-training and other approaches to leverage existing staff capacity to support the operations of the health center, strengthen the organization’s response to COVID-19, and support the provision of needed comprehensive primary care services, consistent with CDC and other public health and clinical guidance and with state laws and regulations to protect the health, safety, and general welfare of the public. If a provider may be operating in a different capacity and your state authorizes health practitioners to provide services outside their usual areas of licensure/certification/practice, this should be documented in the health center’s credentialing files, along with fulfillment of any additional requirements for credentialing and privileging.
(Updated: 9/30/2020)
There are no specific Health Center Program funding prohibitions regarding health centers accessing loans and other economic relief programs. However, HRSA award recipients must demonstrate distinct use (i.e., by budgeting and documenting expenditure) of other funds consistent with the applicable law. You may not use Health Center Program grant funds (H80, H8C, H8D, H8E) for costs that are reimbursed or compensated by other federal or state programs or resources (e.g., the HRSA COVID-19 Uninsured Program, the Small Business Administration Paycheck Protection Program, the CARES Act Provider Relief Fund, or unemployment compensation). In applying for and accepting these loans or funding, health centers should review the programs’ particular requirements to determine their eligibility, adhere to any conditions and terms, and consult with the relevant organization or agency making the loans or grants for further guidance.
In addition, you must monitor expenditures from all sources to ensure compliance with the individual funding requirements, as well as with any requirements of loan agreements, and continue to adhere to the Uniform Administrative Requirements, federal cost principles, and audit requirements for HHS awards (45 CFR Part 75), and your organization’s policies. To meet program requirements and correctly attribute costs to specific programs, HRSA award recipients must maintain appropriate records and cost documentation as required by 45 CFR §75.302 - Financial Management and Standards for Financial Management Systems, and 45 CFR §75.361 - Retention Requirement for Records, to substantiate the charging of any salaries and other project activities costs related to interruption of operations or services. For additional information on maintaining compliance with Health Center Program requirements (e.g., applicability of sliding fee policy, billing and collections) during the COVID-19 public health emergency, see the Health Center Program’s COVID-19 Frequently Asked Questions.
(Updated: 5/19/2020)
Health Center Program (H80), COVID-19 (H8C), CARES (H8D), and ECT (H8E) funds may be used for hazard and premium pay if you have policies and procedures in place that cover this type of pay. Note that H8E funds may only be used for such pay or premiums if they support personnel involved in COVID-19 testing-related in-scope activities. Personnel who will be paid with grant funding must receive salary and benefits consistent with your health center's policies for paying salaries under unexpected or extraordinary circumstances from all funding sources, federal and non-federal. You must document that you are following your organizational policy for charging salaries during unexpected and extraordinary circumstances.
For additional information, refer to COVID-19 Grantee Frequently Asked Questions.
(Updated: 9/30/2020)
Other Uses of Funds
Health Center Program (H80), COVID-19 (H8C), CARES (H8D), and ECT (H8E) funds may be used for COVID-19 contact tracing of health center patients, provided such activities are within the health center’s scope of project. Contact tracing activities should follow CDC and other applicable public health guidance, and be coordinated as appropriate with federal, state, and local public health response efforts.
Health center contact tracing activities other than those described above, as well as activities performed on behalf of a third party, including on behalf of a federal, state, or local public health agency, would constitute another line of business outside the scope of the Health Center Program project. See the Health Center Program COVID-19 Frequently Asked Questions for additional information.
(Updated: 5/27/2020)
Health Center Program (H80), COVID-19 (H8C), and CARES (H8D) funds may be used to support rent of an approved temporary site to perform in-scope activities. ECT (H8E) funds can only be used for sites or locations where in-scope testing or testing-related activities occur.
(Updated: 5/7/2020)
Yes. Health Center Program (H80), COVID-19 (H8C), CARES (H8D), and ECT (H8E) funds may be used to purchase supplies necessary for health center personnel to use telehealth to perform in-scope services to prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus, including maintaining and increasing health center capacity. Note that H8E funds may only be used for such supplies if they support COVID-19 testing-related in-scope activities. For additional information, refer to COVID-19 Grantee Frequently Asked Questions.
(Updated: 9/30/2020)
Health Center Program (H80), COVID-19 (H8C), and CARES (H8D) funding may not be used for food for patients experiencing unemployment and/or homelessness, unless the provision of food is specifically part of your health center’s treatment plan (e.g., special meals for diabetic patients), supported by written health center policies, and part of the health center’s scope of project. ECT (H8E) funds may not be used to purchase food for patients.
(Updated: 5/7/2020)
HRSA acknowledges that health center and community testing needs, access to testing supplies, and/or roles in public health responses vary across the country. Your proposed activities should take into account testing needs and guidance that may evolve over the 12 months you have to use your H8E funds (e.g., available tests, workflows, personnel skills and knowledge, technology, supplies).
(Updated: 5/7/2020)
Health Center Program (H80), COVID-19 (H8C), and CARES (H8D) funds may be used to support the provision of routine immunizations—including influenza vaccines—provided such activities are within the health center’s scope of project. Immunizations performed on behalf of the health center should be reflected as required services on a health center’s Form 5A: Services Provided. Health centers may also use H80, H8C, and H8D funds to provide outreach or education about immunizations.
Health Center Program Expanded Capacity for Testing (ECT) funds may not be used to support the provision of routine immunizations, as the purpose of the ECT funding (H8E) is to purchase, administer, and expand capacity for testing to monitor and suppress COVID-19.
More information about the provision of routine immunizations is available in the Providing Care During Emergencies section of the Health Center Program’s COVID-19 Frequently Asked Questions.
(Updated: 10/13/2020)
Yes. ECT (H8E) funding may support a wide-range of testing and testing-related in-scope activities that may change as COVID-19 needs and guidance evolve within your community. This includes using H8E funds to support COVID-19 prevention and response through specimen collection, diagnostic testing, and antibody (i.e., serological) testing.
The term "diagnostic test" generally refers to a molecular or antigen test, both of which can be used to diagnose infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The terms "antibody test" or "serological test" generally refer to tests that detect antibodies to the SARS-CoV-2 virus. More information is available in the Food and Drug Administration’s FAQs on Testing for SARS-CoV-2 and in the Testing section of the Health Center Program’s COVID-19 Frequently Asked Questions.
(Added: 5/15/2020)
Progress Reports
Recipients of fiscal year 2020 coronavirus-related supplemental awards for health centers are required to submit quarterly progress reports. Health centers must continue to submit quarterly progress reports until each grant is completed. The next due dates are July 1 and October 1, 2021.
View the technical assistance page for each funding award for specific information about the progress reporting requirements for that award:
You can also view the recording of a webinar on FY 2020 Coronavirus-Related Funding Progress Reporting Requirements.
(Updated: 4/12/2021)
Yes. The CARES Act legislation created new reporting requirements for all enacted and subsequent coronavirus-related emergency supplemental appropriations. Each round of coronavirus-related funding requires awardees to submit a separate quarterly progress report that provides status updates on the implementation of the proposed activities supported with the funding, any changes to the initially identified activities, and any issues or barriers to the implementation of the activities. Awardees will submit quarterly progress reports until all activities to be supported with the funding are completed and all funds are drawn down.
(Added: 6/1/2020)
You will access and submit the progress reports via HRSA’s Electronic Handbooks. You will need to ensure the following in order to access and submit the progress reports:
- You have added each coronavirus-related grant to your EHBs portfolio.
- Your Project Director/Authorizing Official for each award has an active EHBs account, as they are the only user who can submit each progress report.
(Added: 6/1/2020)
For fiscal year 2020 awards (H8C, H8D, and H8E), you will provide the following information through the progress reports:
- An overall status update with percentage of activities completed.
- Narrative updates on the activities that have been completed, are in progress, and/or are planned, under the following applicable categories:
- Staff and patient safety
- Testing
- Maintaining or increasing health center capacity and staffing levels
- Telehealth
- Minor alteration/renovation activities (when applicable – only for H8D and H8E awards)
- Changes to activities from what you submitted to HRSA in the initial post-award reporting requirement response.
- Issues or barriers in the use of the funding and/or implementing the planned activities.
(Added: 6/1/2020)
HRSA will review the draw down percentage for each coronavirus-related funding award with the status update provided in each progress report. HRSA will use this information to assess if awardees are drawing down funds consistent with their progress in implementing their award activities, and HRSA may follow up in cases where drawdowns and progress do not appear aligned.
(Added: 6/1/2020)
You do not need to submit a separate progress report if you proposed or plan to use H8D or H8E funds for minor A/R. The progress reports will allow you to upload as attachments the following minor A/R required documentation:
- Project Implementation Certification
- Before and After Construction Photographs
- Project Completion Certification
- Certificate of Occupancy
- Certificate of Completion
Additional information on these requirements is available from BPHC.
(Added: 6/1/2020)