Four things to know:
1. The dispute is related to COVID-19 pandemic relief payments, according to the report. Those funds carried mandatory reporting requirements, but the health system missed the deadline for two of those payments. St. Mary’s blamed the missed deadline on a change in personnel.
2. The system said that after it discovered it missed the deadlines, it notified HHS and was told the matter was resolved, according to the report. But in December, HHS allegedly ordered St. Mary’s to repay the $5.6 million associated with the late reports and began withholding federal payments, including Medicare, to recover the funds.
3. St. Mary’s argued in the lawsuit filed in Maine federal court that HHS’ action is unlawful because it used the relief funds appropriately and only filed the reports late. The system is asking the court to temporarily allow federal payments to continue and rule that it does not need to repay the relief funds.
4. The system has less than 10 days of cash on hand, according to the report.
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