Covid Stimulus Watch Cited in New York Times
An excellent article in the New York Times on federal aid to wealthy hospital systems cites data compiled for Covid Stimulus Watch.
Blog, May 2020
What’s New in Covid Stimulus Watch
We’ve been spending a lot of time on the Provider Relief Fund awards data released by the Department of Health and Human Services. Focusing on those awards worth $500,000 or more, we have matched the individual hospitals listed in the data to their parent health systems, most of which are non-profits.
Rescuing the Cheaters
The federal government has been sending tens of billions of dollars in aid to the country’s hospitals under the Provider Relief Fund created by the CARES Act. That’s all well and good. Yet there is an awkward aspect to this: quite a few of the recipients have been accused of cheating the federal government in the past.
More Provider Relief Fund Data Added
An update for those of you interested in the Provider Relief Fund data: HHS posted a revised version of the recipient list with 17,000 more entries. It also posted a separate list of "high-impact" awards to hospitals which have treated 100 or more covid patients. We have uploaded the full high-impact list and the other new awards above $500,000 to Covid Stimulus Watch, adding the names of the health systems to which the individual facilities belong.
You can go right to the high-impact data here: https://data.covidstimuluswatch.org/program/Provider%20Relief%20Fund%20COVID-19%20High
Covid Stimulus Watch Adds 5,000 Healthcare Provider Awards
Covid Stimulus Watch has just grown tenfold with the addition of 5,000 entries involving healthcare providers. The new entries are an enhanced version of a recipient list posted late last week by the Department of Health and Human Services for the Provider Relief Fund created by the CARES Act.
Should Taxpayers Aid Corporate Bad Actors?
The uproar over the participation of larger companies in the Paycheck Protection Program is a sign that the country will increasingly confront a broader issue about the massive Covid-19 relief effort: does every company deserve assistance during a crisis that affects all parts of the economy?
Data Tip No. 2
Data tip No.2 from Covid Stimulus Watch: it turns out for-profit colleges are getting covid aid under the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund. We've added entries for the likes of DeVry and the Univ. of Phoenix.
Data Tip No. 1
Data tip from Covid Stimulus Watch: we now have some entries for stimulus awards to for-profit healthcare providers. For example, over $1 billion to Community Health Systems Inc.
Protecting Meager Paychecks: Covid Stimulus Watch Reveals Low-Wage Employers in the Paycheck Protection Program
Among the limited number of corporations known to have been awarded federal loans under the Paycheck Protection Program, at least 16 pay their workers less than the national median household income level. Five pay wages so low they fall below the poverty line for a family of four.
Employment Issues
Tax / Subsidy Issues
Contracting Issues
Environment / Safety Issues
Consumer Protection Issues
CEO Pay Issues