Many billing companies have seen a decrease in work recently, due to the temporary closure or slowdown of providers across the country. While many providers have gradually begun to re-open, they have strict guidelines and are often seeing a smaller number of patients than usual. This, in turn, has affected billing offices across the country, causing them to make difficult choices about staffing.
The paycheck protection program has been valuable to many medical billing companies over the last few months. As the pandemic continues, the program has been reopened from July 6th through August 8th. This will allow many businesses to keep their current staff, at least for a few more months. Many billing company owners have expressed concerns about what to do when the initial period is over, and here is the answer.
The application for loan forgiveness, link here, has been significantly simplified, and the percentages for forgiveness have been tweaked. Previously, the program required that 75% of the forgiven funds be spent directly on payroll costs. The new requirement is only 60%. The expense period has also been extended to 24 weeks, rather than the initial 8. This should cause a sigh of relief, especially among smaller billing companies that have not yet come close to the expense maximum. For more information about applying, and forgiveness, check out the SBA website here.