November 28, 2025 Washington, DC–Statement from Katie Smith Sloan, president and CEO, LeadingAge, the association of nonprofit providers of aging services, on the Calendar Year (CY) 2026 Home Health Prospective Payment System final rule, released today by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS): 

Home health care is a vital part of the aging services ecosystem–particularly now. Our country’s population is rapidly growing older. Older adults age 65 in just five years will make up more than 20% of all Americans. The result: older adults’ and families’ need for home health care will continue to grow. 

To meet that demand, payment support is critical. The final rule, released today, demonstrates some recognition by CMS of this reality. In a marked contrast to Medicare fee-for-service payment rate decisions made since CY2023–which had resulted in nearly 9% in cuts–CMS today finalized a payment reduction of 1.3%, which includes a  -1.023 percent permanent adjustment and the -3.0 percent temporary adjustment. 

Following strenuous advocacy from LeadingAge, our members and others, the agency revised its approach which resulted in significantly pared back final payment cuts to $220 million, 80% less than was proposed five months earlier. 

This is an improvement over past actions. We’re heartened by CMS’ apparent careful consideration of comments made by LeadingAge, our members and others. 

Our clear and consistent message has been and continues to be that without a change of course by the agency, our mission driven and nonprofit members who serve older adults in communities nationwide, often as reliable and willing collaborators with hospitals and other providers, taking on complex referrals as safety net partners, cannot meet increasing demand. 

Despite this progress, our work is not done. Our nonprofit and mission-driven members’ viability remains under threat given the years of compounding payment cuts including this year’s. And, while CMS appropriately recalculated and revised down to $4.7 billion its estimate of overpayments owed by home health agencies, providers nonetheless have several more years of temporary adjustments ahead–without further redress. This is not sustainable. 

We will continue to push Congress for longer-term payment reforms with the goal of ensuring our members’ viability so older adults and their families can access the care they need. “