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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Yesterday, U.S. Senators Tom Carper and Chris Coons, along with U.S. Representative Lisa Blunt Rochester (all D-Del.), sent a letter to U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra urging him to qualify the rural, non-profit hospital TidalHealth Nanticoke in Seaford, Delaware for its fair share of the relief funds included in the American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act that were set aside specifically for rural health care providers. The American Rescue Plan Act included $8.5 billion to reimburse rural health care providers for health care-related expenses and lost revenues attributable to COVID–19. The delegation asks the Secretary to review its guidance for allocating this funding, similar to the request from the delegation in 2020 that successfully secured CARES Act funding for TidalHealth Nanticoke after it was initially disqualified.

“We are contacting you today to follow up on our successful efforts in 2020 to ensure that TidalHealth Nanticoke, a rural, non-profit, community facility located in Seaford, Delaware, received its fair share of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act Provider Relief Fund that was set aside and distributed to rural acute care general hospitals and Critical Access Hospitals, Rural Health Clinics, and Community Health Centers located in rural areas,” the delegation wrote. “We are very concerned that future guidance regarding allocations from the provider relief fund may disqualify a deserving rural hospital from the aid it so desperately needs. We want to work with you to change the methodology used to distribute funding to ensure TidalHealth Nanticoke is not disqualified from any future Provider Relief Funds for rural hospitals.”

The full text of the letter is located below and can be found here.

Dear Secretary Becerra:

We are contacting you today to follow up on our successful efforts in 2020 to ensure that TidalHealth Nanticoke, a rural, non-profit, community facility located in Seaford, Delaware, received its fair share of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act Provider Relief Fund that was set aside and distributed to rural acute care general hospitals and Critical Access Hospitals, Rural Health Clinics, and Community Health Centers located in rural areas.

As you may know, these efforts resulted in TidalHealth Nanticoke receiving $1.5M in rural CARES Act funds after being incorrectly disqualified for this funding when it was first released. Before the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) releases another tranche of Provider Relief Funds for rural hospitals, we are requesting that you work with us to make sure that TidalHealth Nanticoke receives all of the federal resources it is entitled to.  

By way of further background, TidalHealth Nanticoke, as a rural Medicare Dependent Hospital (MDH), is experiencing all the same COVID-19 challenges that other small, rural hospitals across the nation are facing.  However, as a rural MDH in Rural-Urban Commuting Area (RUCA) code 1, Nanticoke did not qualify for any of the critically needed funding from the rural set aside of the Provider Relief Fund. It is our understanding that TidalHealth Nanticoke was unique in the nation in this regard. 

According to the methodology guidance issued on May 8, 2020 by HHS regarding the allocation to rural hospitals and providers, even though TidalHealth Nanticoke has Rural MDH status and meets the threshold for rural reclassification under CFR §412.103 (a)(2), because it is located in RUCA code 1, it was not eligible to receive these funds.

After we sent a letter to HHS Secretary Azar last year, the distribution criteria was amended and TidalHealth Nanticoke was provided with the additional resources. We are very concerned that future guidance regarding allocations from the provider relief fund may disqualify a deserving rural hospital from the aid it so desperately needs. We want to work with you to change the methodology used to distribute funding to ensure TidalHealth Nanticoke is not disqualified from any future Provider Relief Funds for rural hospitals.

Thank you for considering this important request and for your timely reply.  

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