The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has finalized the Fiscal Year (FY) 2027 Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) and Long-Term Care Hospital Prospective Payment System (LTCH PPS) rule, updating Medicare payment rates, quality reporting, interoperability, and graduate medical education policies for hospitals beginning October 1, 2026.

Key provisions include revised criteria for qualifying as a new residency program, a requirement that Medicare-approved residency programs comply with existing federal nondiscrimination laws, updates to the Hospital Inpatient Quality Reporting and Medicare Promoting Interoperability programs, and adoption of updated health information technology standards to support interoperability. CMS did not finalize its proposal to revise provider-based location criteria for off-campus facilities, leaving the existing regulations unchanged.

CMS also finalized a new nationwide mandatory Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement Expanded (CJR-X) model beginning January 1, 2028.

Final rule effective October 1, 2026.

On July 29, 2026, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued the Fiscal Year (FY) 2027 Inpatient Psychiatric Facility Payments final rule.

In this rule, CMS updates Medicare payment policies and rates for Inpatient Psychiatric Facilities (IPFs) under the IPF Prospective Payment System (PPS) for fiscal year (FY) 2027. Through this rule, CMS is updating base payment rates by 2.3 percent. CMS is also changing the outlier threshold so that outlier payments are capped at the provider level in fiscal year 2028.  This may already be posted

Effective October 1, 2026.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released a final rule for Medicare Skilled Nursing Facility Payment Rates for FY 2027.

The proposed rule indicates a 2.4 percent increase for non-rural SNFs and a 2.7 percent increase in payments for rural SNFs. In addition to payment updates, the rule finalizes changes to the Skilled Nursing Facility Quality Reporting Program (QRP), including the removal of two COVID-19 vaccination measures, revised data submission deadlines to improve timeliness of public reporting, and a new requirement to submit Minimum Data Set (MDS) data on all residents receiving skilled care, regardless of payer.

The proposal also includes updates to the Skilled Nursing Facility Value-Based Purchasing (VBP) Program, which withholds 2% of SNF payments and redistributes a portion based on performance, along with technical updates to align measure calculations and reporting timelines. Additionally, CMS summarizes stakeholder comments to the Requests for Information on topics such as advanced care planning and potential refinements to the Patient-Driven Payment Model (PDPM) to address case-mix coding practices.

Effective October 1, 2026.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released a final rule for Medicare Inpatient Rehabilitation Facilities (IRF) Payment Rates for fiscal year (FY) 2027.

The final rule indicates a 2.3 percent increase for IRFs. In addition to payment updates the rule finalizes the third and final year of the phase-out of the rural adjustment for IRFs transitioning from rural to urban that were reclassified due to Core-Based Statistical Area Delineations. CMS also finalizes changes to the IRF coverage rules stating that current functional status be documented at admission, the initial Interdisciplinary Team (IDT) meeting must take place on or before the fourth day of admission, and all therapies must be started within 36 hours of admission. Additionally, CMS is finalizing changes made to the timeframe for data submission from 4.5 months to 45 days beginning in FY 2029. CMS also included a summary of the comments received on the request for information on modernizing the IRF PPS methodologies for classifying patient case-mix.

Effective October 1, 2026.

Part of the National Institutes of Health, the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) is the lead federal agency supporting research on drug use and its outcomes.

In this Request for Information (RFI) NIDA invites feedback from the public on an outline for its CY 2027-2031 Strategic Plan, seeking response from a broad range of stakeholders – including researchers, healthcare providers, people with lived/living experience – and others with an interest in substance use prevention, treatment, and recovery.

The new plan will be an update to the current plan, established in 2022 and expiring this year, incorporating new information, innovations, challenges, and lessons learned. Review NIDA’s cross-cutting themes and priority areas up for consideration, and submit a response using this online form by September 21, 2026, 11:59 pm Eastern.  Individuals may respond and organizations are encouraged to submit a single response representing the whole organization.

Comment by September 21.

On July 31, CMS released the Fiscal Year (FY) 2027 Hospice Wage Index and Payment Rate Update, which updates hospice payment rates, the wage index, and the aggregate cap amount, with an estimated $755 million increase in Medicare hospice payments for FY 2027.

In this year’s final rule, CMS finalized requirements for hospices to provide the hospice election statement addendum to all Medicare beneficiaries who elect hospice. CMS updated hospice discharge policy to expand the list of clinicians permitted to discharge patients from hospice and extended telehealth face-to-face encounters for a patient’s hospice recertification through December 31, 2027. In addition, CMS will publicly release updated provider level summary data files under the Service and Spending Variation Index (SSVI), a claims-based scoring system intended to support transparency and oversight for non-hospice spending, beginning with FY 2024 and 2025.

This final rule summarizes feedback on community-based palliative care and medical aid in dying, and updates the Hospice Quality Reporting Program, including adding a data submission icon to the Medicare.gov Care Compare tool.

Effective October 1, 2026.