![]() ![]() 16, a HRSA spokesman told STAT there is $24 billion available. The Government Accountability Office found that at the end of December, HHS had $33.4 billion left. The exact math about how much money is left in the provider fund is also murky. HRSA and HHS did not respond to inquiries about that, or about which specific contracts the funds were used for, or about any determinations made by the Office of the General Counsel. It isn’t immediately clear whether the $10 billion outlay means that less money is available to health care providers. It was not a ‘loan,’” a HRSA spokesperson said. “Approximately $10 billion was obligated for costs related to vaccines and therapeutics between October and December 2020. But HRSA said the money has not been repaid. The expenditure was initially intended to be a sort of loan that could be backfilled after Congress provided more funds for vaccines, two former HHS officials said. Vought, the former White House budget office director, said the administration “made all the congressional notifications it was required to make.” If you have more information about this story, send tips to or 61. The HHS Office of the General Counsel concluded that certain Operation Warp Speed costs were an allowable use of the money, according to a spokesperson for the Health Resources and Services Administration, which administers the Provider Relief Fund. Officials apparently chose instead to spend the money directly out of the providers’ account, without making any formal transfer, which didn’t trigger congressional notification requirements. GOP aides for both the House and Senate Appropriations Committees did not return requests for comment. “It is unfortunate the Trump administration preferred to divert billions of dollars from the Provider Relief Fund instead of submitting a request to Congress for the necessary funds,” House Appropriations Committee Chair Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) said in a written statement.Ī Democratic Senate Appropriations Committee aide was unaware of the Trump administration notifying congressional committees formally under the transfer notification process. ![]() Evan Hollander, a spokesperson for House Appropriations Committee Democrats, said the Trump administration did not notify the committee of any such transfer, and did not request additional funding for Operation Warp Speed. Hospitals’ Covid-19 heroics have them poised for power in the new WashingtonĬongress gave HHS permission to move money between accounts to respond to the pandemic, but the authority came with a catch - the agency had to notify Congress, and specifically, its appropriations committees, at least 10 days in advance of a transfer. One of the top hospital lobbyists in D.C., who also did not know about the outlay, emphasized how much some hospitals still need the funding. Congress set aside that money to help health care providers pay for pandemic-related expenses including staffing, personal protective equipment, care for uninsured patients, and vaccine distribution. Several provider groups said they had not heard that $10 billion for providers was spent on Warp Speed contracts until STAT’s reporting. Now, the Biden administration is refusing to say whether the outlay means there will be less money available for hospitals, physicians, nursing homes, and other providers. ![]() The Department of Health and Human Services appears to have used a financial maneuver that allowed officials to spend the money without telling Congress, and the agency got permission from its top lawyer to do so. WASHINGTON - The Trump administration quietly took around $10 billion from a fund meant to help hospitals and health care providers affected by Covid-19 and used the money to bankroll Operation Warp Speed contracts, four former Trump administration officials told STAT. Exclusive analysis of biotech, pharma, and the life sciences Learn More ![]()
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