Medicare Program; FY 2027 Hospice Wage Index and Payment Rate Update and Hospice Quality Reporting Program Requirements
Built by the Tribune's code from the Federal Register. No AI wrote this page. Published in the Federal Register Aug. 3, 2026. Document 2026-15686. Updated Nov. 7, 2026.
- What it does
This final rule updates the hospice wage index, payment rates, and aggregate cap amount for fiscal year 2027. This final rule also includes an analysis of Medicare non-hospice spending, including details regarding a hospice service and spending variation index, and finalizes the requirement that hospices provide the hospice election statement addendum to all Medicare beneficiaries at the time of hospice election. Additionally, this rule finalizes conforming changes to discharge from hospice care regulations and changes to the face-to-face encounter regulations. This final rule also includes a summary of comments received on our requests for information regarding community- based palliative care; the construction of a hospice specific wage index; and the overlap between hospice and medical aid in dying laws. Finally, this rule finalizes changes to the Hospice Quality Reporting Program.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services's summary, as published in the Federal Register.
- What changed in the regulation
1 part of Title 42 of the Code of Federal Regulations:
Wording on eCFR: the day before it took effect and from the day it took effect (first part listed).
- Compared with
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has published 24 final rules in 2026 so far, compared with 12 in all of 2025.
Counted by the Tribune from Federal Register records since Jan. 1, 2025.
- Before this
1 earlier Federal Register document under regulation identifier 0938-AV78 since Jan. 1, 2025.
Since then:
- What happens next and when
These regulations are effective on October 1, 2026.
The agency's dates, word for word.
The record as published
| Document number | 2026-15686 |
|---|---|
| Action | Final rule. |
| Agencies | Health and Human Services Department; Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services |
| Published | Aug. 3, 2026 |
| Effective date | Oct. 1, 2026 |
| Regulation identifier (RIN) | 0938-AV78 |
| Docket | CMS-2026-1156 |
Source: the Federal Register (public domain). The document in the Federal Register