The Alabama Hospital Association reported over $830 million in unreimbursed COVID-19 expenses from March 2021 to March 2022, Alabama Daily News reported Aug. 12.
"We had an excess of $800 million that were submitted just for that one-year time period that qualified under U.S. Treasury [Department] guidelines, directly related to treated patients, that had not been reimbursed or otherwise provided for in any funding," Danne Howard, deputy director of the association, said Aug. 11 to the legislative committee overseeing the state's American Rescue Plan Act funds and spending.
Earlier this year, the association distributed $40 million in state ARPA funds to over 100 hospitals. Fifty-five rural hospitals received a combined $30 million in state ARPA funds. Some hospitals received aid from both allocations.
Alabama legislators will meet and likely hear from local hospitals to decide how the second round of ARPA funds will be distributed throughout the state. The second set of funds will be roughly $1.1 billion, according to the publication.