Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission to OMB for Review and Approval; Public Comment Request; COVID-19 Provider Relief Fund and American Rescue Plan Rural Payment Reporting Activities, OMB No. 0906-0068-Revision

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Published

January 7, 2026

Issuing agencies

Health and Human Services DepartmentHealth Resources and Services Administration

Abstract

In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, HRSA submitted an Information Collection Request (ICR) to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval. Comments submitted during the first public review of this ICR will be provided to OMB. OMB will accept further comments from the public during the review and approval period. OMB may act on HRSA's ICR only after the 30-day comment period for this notice has closed.

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<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 4 (Wednesday, January 7, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 4 (Wednesday, January 7, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 512-513]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-00088]

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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Health Resources and Services Administration

Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission to OMB for
Review and Approval; Public Comment Request; COVID-19 Provider Relief
Fund and American Rescue Plan Rural Payment Reporting Activities, OMB
No. 0906-0068--Revision

AGENCY: Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Department
of Health and Human Services.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, HRSA
submitted an Information Collection Request (ICR) to the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval. Comments submitted
during the first public review of this ICR will be provided to OMB. OMB
will accept further comments from the public during the review and
approval period. OMB may act on HRSA's ICR only after the 30-day
comment period for this notice has closed.

DATES: Comments on this ICR should be received no later than February
6, 2026.

ADDRESSES: Written comments and recommendations for the proposed
information collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of
this notice to <a href="http://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain">www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain</a>. Find this particular
information collection by selecting ``Currently under Review--Open for
Public Comments'' or by using the search function.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To request a copy of the clearance
requests submitted to OMB for review, email Samantha Miller, the HRSA
Information Collection Clearance Officer, at <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#730312031601041c0118331b0100125d141c05"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="453524352037322a372e052d3736246b222a33">[email&#160;protected]</span></a> or call
(301) 443-3983.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Information Collection Request Title: COVID-19 Provider Relief Fund
and American Rescue Plan Rural Payment Reporting Activities, OMB No.
0906-0068--Revision.
Abstract: HRSA disbursed the COVID-19 Provider Relief Fund (PRF)
and American Rescue Plan (ARP) Rural payments to eligible health care
providers to support health care-related expenses or lost revenues
attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic. Recipients of PRF and ARP Rural
payments agreed to a set of Terms and Conditions (T&C), which, among
other requirements, mandate compliance with certain reporting
requirements that facilitate appropriate oversight of recipients' use
of funds. Providers who have attested to the T&Cs regarding their PRF
and ARP Rural payment(s), including the requirement that the provider
``shall submit reports as the Secretary determines are needed to ensure
compliance with conditions that are imposed on this Payment, and such
reports shall be in such form, with such content, as specified by the
Secretary in future program instructions directed to all recipients,''
will use the HRSA Consolidated PRF Reporting Portal to submit
information about their use of PRF and ARP Rural payments.
There will be one new Data Form Element, the Repayment ID, which is
generated by HRSA and provided in the email giving the recipient the
opportunity to report, and it will be entered by the provider in the
HRSA Consolidated PRF Reporting Portal. Approximately 50 data elements
will be removed from the PRF and ARP Rural Reporting Portal, including
sections on personnel, patient, and facility metrics as well as survey
questions on the PRF program. This is because these elements are no
longer needed, since the data will be needed for more limited cases, as
outlined in the ``Likely Respondents'' section below. In addition,
fields related to PRF interest earned, nursing home infection control
payment expenditures, and other PRF payment expenditures will be
consolidated to overall totals. As a result, the total number of
elements that can be submitted by recipients will decline from 123 to
approximately 53. Furthermore, the supplemental document ``Post-Payment
Notice of Reporting Requirements'' has been updated to reflect the
removal of reporting periods 8 and 9 (including the applicable payment
received period and period of availability dates), as the Public Health
Emergency ended on May 11, 2023.
A 60-day notice was published in the Federal Register on June 26,
2025, vol. 90, No. 121; pp. 27324-26. There was one out-of-scope
comment criticizing the authorizing legislation. No changes were made
to the collection.
Need and Proposed Use of the Information: Information collected
will allow for (1) assessing whether recipients have met statutory and
programmatic requirements, (2) conducting audits, (3) gathering data
required to report on findings with respect to the disbursements of PRF
and ARP Rural payments, and (4) supporting program evaluation. HRSA
staff will also use information collected to identify and report on
trends in health care metrics and expenditures before and during the
allowable period for expending PRF and ARP Rural payments.
If the information is not collected, HRSA will not fulfill its
responsibility to oversee reporting requirements that facilitate
appropriate oversight of recipients' use of funds, and PRF and ARP
Rural recipients will not be able to fulfill their statutory reporting
requirement. HRSA will not be able to provide reports to Congress and
other stakeholders on the use of more than $178 billion in PRF funds
and $8.5 billion in ARP Rural funds.
Likely Respondents: PRF and ARP Rural payment recipients who have
received more than $10,000 in aggregate PRF and ARP Rural payments
during one of the Payment Received Periods outlined below and agreed to
the associated T&Cs are required to submit a report in the HRSA
Consolidated PRF Reporting Portal during the applicable Reporting Time
Period.

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Payment received
period (payments Reporting time
Reporting period exceeding $10,000 in period
aggregate received)
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Period 1...................... April 10, 2020, to July 1, 2021, to
June 30, 2020. September 30,
2021.
Period 2...................... July 1, 2020, to January 1, 2022,
December 31, 2020. to March 31,
2022.
Period 3...................... January 1, 2021, to July 1, 2022, to
June 30, 2021. September 30,
2022.
Period 4...................... July 1, 2021, to January 1, 2023,
December 31, 2021. to March 31,
2023.

[[Page 513]]

Period 5...................... January 1, 2022, to July 1, 2023, to
June 30, 2022. September 30,
2023.
Period 6...................... July 1, 2022, to January 1, 2024,
December 31, 2022. to March 31,
2024.
Period 7...................... January 1, 2023, to July 1, 2024, to
June 30, 2023. September 30,
2024.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

While the standard reporting time periods have ended, there are
still scenarios in which providers will be required to submit reporting
documents to HRSA. These include:
<bullet> Providers who receive a Final Repayment Notice, based on a
HRSA finding of reporting non-compliance, who submit a Decision Review
request and are provided an Opportunity to Report. The Opportunity to
Report allows providers another chance to submit a report to come into
compliance.
<bullet> Adjudicative orders that would require HRSA to allow a
Provider an opportunity to report.
<bullet> Providers who have prevailed in a dispute or have entered
into a settlement with HRSA may need to submit a report.
These scenarios make it necessary to retain and extend approval of
the information collection activities associated with required
reporting to support compliance, validation, and enforcement actions.
Providers would provide documentation through the HRSA Consolidated PRF
Reporting Portal based on the reporting period in which they received
the funds in question.
Burden Statement: Burden in this context means the time expended by
persons to generate, maintain, retain, disclose, or provide the
information requested. This includes the time needed to review
instructions; to develop, acquire, install, and utilize technology and
systems for the purpose of collecting, validating, and verifying
information, processing and maintaining information, and disclosing and
providing information; to train personnel and to be able to respond to
a collection of information; to search data sources; to complete and
review the collection of information; and to transmit or otherwise
disclose the information. The total annual burden hours estimated for
this ICR are summarized in the table below.

Total Estimated Annualized Burden Hours
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Average
Number of Number of Total burden per Total
Form name respondents responses per responses response burden
respondent (in hours) hours
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HRSA Consolidated PRF Reporting Portal, Reporting 10 1 10 5.43 54.30
Period 1 (Providers who received payments April
10, 2020, to June 30, 2020).....................
HRSA Consolidated PRF Reporting Portal, Reporting 10 1 10 4.22 42.20
Period 2 (Providers who received payments July
1, 2020, to December 31, 2020)..................
HRSA Consolidated PRF Reporting Portal, Reporting 10 1 10 5.88 58.80
Period 3 (Providers who received payments,
January 1, 2021, to June 30, 2021)..............
HRSA Consolidated PRF and ARP Rural Reporting 10 1 10 5.26 52.60
Portal, Reporting Period 4 (Providers who
received payments July 1, 2021, to December 31,
2021)...........................................
HRSA Consolidated PRF and ARP Rural Reporting 5 1 5 5.18 25.90
Portal, Reporting Period 5 (Providers who
received payments January 1, 2022, to June 30,
2022)...........................................
HRSA Consolidated PRF and ARP Rural Reporting 50 1 50 7.37 368.50
Portal, Reporting Period 6 (Providers who
received payments July 1, 2022, to December 31,
2022)...........................................
HRSA Consolidated PRF and ARP Rural Reporting 5 1 5 5.35 26.75
Portal, Reporting Period 7 (Providers who
received payments January 1, 2023, to June 30,
2023)...........................................
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Total........................................ 100 .............. 100 ........... 629.05
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Amy P. McNulty,
Deputy Director, Executive Secretariat.
[FR Doc. 2026-00088 Filed 1-6-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4165-15-P

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