On July 1, 2026, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued the Calendar Year (CY) 2027 Home Health Prospective Payment System (HH PPS) Rate Update proposed rule, which updates the Medicare payment policies and rates for home health agencies (HHAs).
CMS estimates that Medicare payments to HHAs in CY 2027 would increase by approximately 2.4% (about $420 million) compared to CY 2026, based on the proposed behavior adjustments for the Patient-Driven Groupings Model (PDGM) and the fixed-dollar loss for outlier payments for CY 2027. Additionally, this rule discusses provision of palliative care services under the Medicare home health benefit and includes a request for information (RFI) regarding the construction of a home health specific wage index.
All comments are due in the Federal Register by 5 pm EDT, August 31, 2026.