Hospitals, many of which are hamstrung under near-fatal cash shortages brought on by the onslaught of the COVID-19 virus, are slated for another round of federal stimulus funding. The funding from the first round of stimulus money designated to hospitals was aimed at fighting the coronavirus front in some of the nation's most troubling hot spots.

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Seema Verma told reporters on April 15 that cash-strapped hospitals should expect details about a second wave of emergency funding in a matter of days.

Her agency, she said, is contemplating how best to address providers that have not been able to work because of the countless cancellations of elective procedures at health systems across the U.S. Health systems shuttered such procedures even while their essential first-response teams led the charge in the battle against the virus, which has infected more than 2 million people worldwide, as of this writing.

“Large segments of the healthcare community aren’t able to provide services they would normally do,” Verma said.

Verma didn’t say how much funding hospitals may be able to expect in the funding round; $30 billion was dispersed earlier in April as part of a $100 billion fund passed by Congress in a much larger economic stimulus package. Per reports, the original $30 billion went only to providers receiving Medicare fee-for-service reimbursements, not to providers that rely heavily on other sources of income, like Medicaid.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said April 10 that the money was allocated to hospitals and providers based on their historical share of revenue from the Medicare program, rather than the burden caused by the coronavirus or number of uninsured patients treated. Those payments were made to those recipients most likely because those are the health systems in which the government has payment data readily available, using direct deposit to ensure the quickest payment to providers.

Politicians continue to want more money funneled into healthcare. Congress, for example, is weighing a second new round of funding for hospitals. Democrats are calling for another push of $250 billion.

Under the original stimulus, passed in March, hospitals are slated for $100 billion to cover related expenses for treating the COVID-19 outbreak and for recouping lost revenue. The currently distributed $30 billion is part of emergency stimulus funding earmarked for hospitals from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act passed on March 27.

"We had lots of meetings with providers, and consistent feedback was we wanted to get this money out fast," Verma said during her call with the media.

A portion of the $100 billion will also be used to cover the cost of care for uninsured patients, but Verma didn’t specify how much. While people who are newly uninsured after losing a job will have the opportunity to enroll in marketplace plans through Healthcare.gov, the administration has not opened a special enrollment period for those who were already uninsured.

Among the hardest hit in all of healthcare are those professionals who have lost their jobs because of the shuttering of elective procedures. Scuttling these elective procedures means health systems have lost or anticipate losing large swaths of revenue in the months ahead. Thus, cost reductions are top of mind and a key tactic available to protecting these organization’s long-term health. These individuals are still without much hope, other than the $1,200 receiving a personal stimulus from the federal government.

More than 115 hospitals have furloughed staff, as of this reporting. Those numbers are likely to continue rising.