PHOENIX—The House Appropriations Committee today announced that Arizona hospitals and health care providers on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic will receive more than $707 million in initial funding under the CARES Act.

“Our health care workers are fighting COVID-19 every day to keep Arizonans safe, and they need our help,” said Rep. Greg Stanton. “It was a top priority when we passed the CARES Act to ensure our hospitals and health care providers would get the funding they need to tackle this pandemic. These dollars are going to reach Arizona’s health care providers and be put to work right away.”

More than 6,000 Arizona providers will receive a share of the funds. The funding is specifically to help hospitals and providers respond to COVID-19 such as building temporary structures; leasing properties; purchasing medical supplies and equipment including personal protective equipment and testing supplies; increase workforce and trainings; emergency operations centers; retrofitting facilities; and surge capacity.

The CARES Act included $100 billion to support hospitals and providers on the front lines of the pandemic. To expedite providers getting funds as quickly as possible, $30 billion is being distributed nationwide immediately in proportion to providers’ share of Medicare fee-for-service reimbursements for 2019. Initial payments will begin being delivered today.

As a condition of receiving the funds, providers must agree to not collect out-of-pocket payments from COVID-19 patients that are greater than what the patient would have otherwise been required to pay if the care had been provided by an in-network provider.

Arizona hospitals eligible for funding include: public entities, Medicare or Medicaid enrolled suppliers and providers and others specified by the Secretary of Health and Human Services that provide diagnoses, testing or care for patients with possible or actual cases of COVID-19.