August 31, 2026 Washington, DC — In a joint sign-on letter led by LeadingAge, the association of nonprofit and mission-driven providers of aging services and submitted to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) today, a coalition of 19 partners representing hospitals, physician and clinician practices, post-acute and long-term care providers, home health and hospice agencies, suppliers, and the beneficiaries served by all, warn the agency that the proposed changes to Medicare provider enrollment provisions, included in the Calendar Year (CY) 2027 Home Health Prospective Payment System (PPS) Rule, risk penalizing legitimate providers and could result in limiting beneficiary access to care.

The coalition fundamentally supports CMS’ responsibility to protect the Medicare Trust Fund and beneficiaries from fraud, waste, and abuse. However, the agency’s proposed sweeping changes to Medicare provider enrollment policies, which would significantly broaden the agency’s authority to deny, revoke, or otherwise restrict providers’ participation in the Medicare program, expand enforcement tools without providing the objective standards, clear definitions, and procedural safeguards necessary to ensure that legitimate providers are not mistakenly swept into enforcement actions.

As drafted, these provisions could expose providers to severe consequences based on clerical errors, documentation discrepancies, circumstances outside their control, or loosely defined associations with third parties, rather than intentional fraud or abuse.

Urging the agency to reconsider the proposals, the coalition recommends alternative approaches “to ensure CMS can pursue bad actors without penalizing legitimate providers.”