PPP Forgiveness Continues to Slow Down the Home Health M&A Process

The COVID-19 crisis came in a hurry. The government, therefore, had to create programs and grants in a hurry to offset some of the financial woes that health care providers were facing.

The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), Provider Relief Fund and other funding was much needed to keep many home-based care operations afloat. But as things become increasingly normal, certain aspects of those lifelines are causing increased organizational anxiety.

“The government did step up on programs, and [policymakers] were helping these practices be able to defray those increased costs and [lowered censuses],” Christina Kuta, a health care attorney at Roetzel & Andress, told Home Health Care News. “However, the rules regarding those programs and how the money gets forgiven was pretty minimal — and even then, it was very confusing.”

Roetzel & Andress is a Chicago-based law firm that specializes in a wide array of fields, including home care and home health care.

Some larger home health providers even denied money from the Provider Relief Fund, which was part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act, due to concern over what would need to be paid back, and when.

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