Many community health centers across the US are experiencing significant delays in accessing federal funds through the Department of Health and Human Services Payment Management Services portal. The issue, attributed to 'technical issues' by HHS, has left organizations scrambling to manage cash flow and fearing potential service disruptions for their patients.
Many groups that rely on a federal payment portal started experiencing problems accessing funds last week. HHS says"technical issues" are to blame and lag times continue.Children play during aftercare for the Head Start program at Easterseals South Florida, an organization that gets about a third of its funding from the federal government on Wednesday, Jan. 29, in Miami.waited for federal funding from the Department of Health and Human Services.
Her organization has enough reserves to make payroll for their 550 staff members at the moment, she says, but not for long. Community health care centers provide primary and preventive care to millions of patients, many of them low-income, whether they are insured or not. In many parts of the country, they are the only health care centers offering primary care besides hospital emergency departments."People hear that the freeze was lifted, they assume we're back to normal and we're really not — we're really not," Tomko says.
A recorded message on the federal payment portal helpline says:"We have no information to share regarding the delay of payments at this time. Please continue to visit the website for updates."For Head Start providers who haven't been able to access the system they depend on, the last week has been"really emotional," said Abbi Kruse, the executive director of The Playing Field, an early childhood center in Madison, Wis.
Kruse added that maintaining The Playing Field's revenue model is a difficult balance in the best of times, and that providers are already squeezed because of inflation.
FEDERAL FUNDING HEALTH CARE COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTERS PAYMENT PORTAL HHS
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