WASHINGTON — The Department of Health and Human Services acted with lightning speed to send health care providers more than $100 billion in Covid-19 relief grants — but it’s lagging on holding them accountable for how those funds were spent.
The Trump administration has quietly relaxed accountability measures and repeatedly delayed key deadlines meant to ensure the funds were spent properly. Late last week, it delayed again — this time, without even setting a new deadline, effectively punting compliance for the massive program to the Biden administration.
It’s the latest in a string of lapses and confusion related to the program, a so-called Marshall Plan meant to help funnel emergency funds to hospitals and other health care providers. The dizzying pace of changes made the guidelines hard to follow even for lawyers and consultants whose day-to-day job was to track the rules. Retroactively determining whether providers are legally liable would be a herculean task for the Biden administration, and oversight could suffer further as attention turns to more urgent Covid-19 response priorities.
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