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Study Group with Eric Hargan: How Does the Government Move in Crisis? Lessons Learned from the Provider Relief Fund

In Spring 2020, Congress established a $175 billion fund to help rescue healthcare providers who were beginning to shut down, paradoxically in the middle of a healthcare crisis. The need for speed in distributing these funds was paramount. HHS distributed the first multi-billion-dollar round of funds thirteen days after the bill passed, potentially saving many hospitals, clinics and providers from shutting down or going bankrupt, and preserving access for patients. 

Will Brady, Senior Advisor and Chief of Staff at HHS in 2020, will be our guest as we explore this episode. We will consider questions such as: Does this public-private partnership have lessons for other, similar crises? Was it one-of-a-kind, or could its lessons be used elsewhere? What have been the downstream effects? Also, how does the Provider Relief Fund’s performance stack up against other pandemic-era relief funds, such as the PPP loans, extended unemployment, and state and local relief provided by the federal government?

GUEST: Will Brady, SVP for Quality and Performance Improvement for Medicare and Medicaid at United Healthcare, joins Eric Hargan in-person for the April 10 session.

AUDIENCE: These conversations are open to members of the Harvard community. Please RSVP with a valid Harvard email address. 

OFF-THE-RECORD: In keeping with our long tradition at the IOP to ensure honest and candid discussions of politics, all IOP study groups are off-the-record.