tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
JAMA Health Forum
. 2021 Oct 22;2(10):e213325.
doi: 10.1001/jamahealthforum.2021.3325. eCollection 2021 Oct.
Association Between COVID-19 Relief Funds and Hospital Characteristics in the US
Jonathan Cantor[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Nabeel Qureshi[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Brian Briscombe[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Justin Chapman[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Christopher M Whaley[SUP] 1 [/SUP]
Affiliations
Abstract
Importance: In response to financial stress created by the reduction in care during the COVID-19 pandemic, hospitals received financial assistance through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act program. To date, the allocation of CARES Act funding is not well understood.
Objective: To examine the disbursement of the High-Impact Distribution CARES Act funds and the association between financial assistance and hospital-level financial resources prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Design setting and participants: This cross-sectional analysis of US-based hospitals and health systems assesses the hospital characteristics associated with CARES Act funding with linear regression models using linked hospital and health system-level information on CARES Act funding with hospital characteristics from Hospital Cost Report data.
Exposures: Hospital and health system CARES Act financial assistance.
Main outcomes and measures: Hospital and health system affiliation, status, and financial health prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Data analysis took place from December 2020 through June 2021.
Results: The analysis included 952 hospital-level entities with an average payment of $33.6 million, most of which was received during the first payment round. Wide ranges existed in CARES Act funding, with 24% of matched hospitals receiving less than $5 million in funding and 8% receiving more than $50 million. Academic-affiliated hospitals, hospitals with higher pre-COVID-19 assets and hospitals with higher COVID-19 cases received higher levels of funding, while critical access hospitals received lower levels of financial assistance. A 10% increase in hospital assets, endowment size, and COVID-19 cases was associated with 1.4% (95% CI, 0.8% to 2.0%; P = .003), 0.2% (95% CI, 0.1% to 0.3%; P < .001), and 3.5% (95% CI, 2.8% to 4.2%; P < .001) increases in CARES Act funding, respectively.
Conclusions and relevance: In this cross-sectional study of US hospitals and health systems, findings suggest that High-Impact Distribution CARES Act funds may have disproportionately gone to hospitals that were in a stronger financial situation prior to the pandemic compared with those that were not, but funds also went disproportionately to those that eventually had the most cases.
. 2021 Oct 22;2(10):e213325.
doi: 10.1001/jamahealthforum.2021.3325. eCollection 2021 Oct.
Association Between COVID-19 Relief Funds and Hospital Characteristics in the US
Jonathan Cantor[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Nabeel Qureshi[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Brian Briscombe[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Justin Chapman[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Christopher M Whaley[SUP] 1 [/SUP]
Affiliations
- PMID: 35977159
- PMCID: PMC8727033
- DOI: 10.1001/jamahealthforum.2021.3325
Abstract
Importance: In response to financial stress created by the reduction in care during the COVID-19 pandemic, hospitals received financial assistance through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act program. To date, the allocation of CARES Act funding is not well understood.
Objective: To examine the disbursement of the High-Impact Distribution CARES Act funds and the association between financial assistance and hospital-level financial resources prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Design setting and participants: This cross-sectional analysis of US-based hospitals and health systems assesses the hospital characteristics associated with CARES Act funding with linear regression models using linked hospital and health system-level information on CARES Act funding with hospital characteristics from Hospital Cost Report data.
Exposures: Hospital and health system CARES Act financial assistance.
Main outcomes and measures: Hospital and health system affiliation, status, and financial health prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Data analysis took place from December 2020 through June 2021.
Results: The analysis included 952 hospital-level entities with an average payment of $33.6 million, most of which was received during the first payment round. Wide ranges existed in CARES Act funding, with 24% of matched hospitals receiving less than $5 million in funding and 8% receiving more than $50 million. Academic-affiliated hospitals, hospitals with higher pre-COVID-19 assets and hospitals with higher COVID-19 cases received higher levels of funding, while critical access hospitals received lower levels of financial assistance. A 10% increase in hospital assets, endowment size, and COVID-19 cases was associated with 1.4% (95% CI, 0.8% to 2.0%; P = .003), 0.2% (95% CI, 0.1% to 0.3%; P < .001), and 3.5% (95% CI, 2.8% to 4.2%; P < .001) increases in CARES Act funding, respectively.
Conclusions and relevance: In this cross-sectional study of US hospitals and health systems, findings suggest that High-Impact Distribution CARES Act funds may have disproportionately gone to hospitals that were in a stronger financial situation prior to the pandemic compared with those that were not, but funds also went disproportionately to those that eventually had the most cases.