The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on June 30 released the CY2026 Home Health Proposed Rule that will make an aggregate -6.4% cut to the base payment. CMS is proposing a -4.059 percent permanent adjustment to the CY2026 home health base payment rate. Additionally, the temporary adjustment which has been accruing over the last several years now stands at $5.3 billion. If this were to be taken back in a single year it would be a 35% reduction to the base payment, which CMS considers too much of a burden. Therefore, the agency is proposing to apply the first temporary adjustment in CY2026 with an additional -5.0 percent on top of the proposed -4.059 permanent adjustment. The minuscule market basket update for CY2026 is proposed at only 3.2 percent. More here.

“The 6.4% cut to the current rate that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) proposes for home health providers will, if implemented, be a death knell for many quality agencies,” said LeadingAge president and CEO Katie Smith Sloan in a statement following the rule’s June 30 release.

Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) in June 2025 sent a letter to Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz raising concerns about the future of the home health benefit and asking CMS to use its statutory authority to pause any planned cuts in the CY2026 Home Health Proposed Rule.