For many healthcare professionals who own medical practices during the coronavirus outbreak, concerns have grown over how to pay rent.
Private practices, hospitals, and other healthcare facilities have faced a massive influx of patients, though revenue has dropped because appointments are now generally over the phone or computer. This loss of revenue makes it difficult to pay mortgages, staff salaries, malpractice insurance, utilities, electronic health records costs, and other expenses that medical professionals are responsible for paying.
To be able to keep facilities running, thousands of healthcare practitioners have relied on Medicare advances, to help cushion the loss of income. In addition to this, small practices can apply for the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection loans to help cover any additional costs.
At the end of March, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced that it would for the first time ever implement a nationwide accelerated Medicare payment program, specifically to ease the financial strain caused by coronavirus on healthcare providers. This, in turn, has encouraged private health insurers to offer advanced payments and other forms of financial support.
Other facilities are postponing non-essential and elective surgeries to assist the overwhelmed hospitals by way of extra healthcare workers and Personal Protective Equipment.
Sources: Kaiser Health News 04/10/2020; Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services 03/2020
