Hospice & Home Health News 2026August7

Kierstin Reed • August 6, 2026

Analysis: FY2027 Hospice Wage Index Final Rule

LeadingAge recaps in this article for members critical pieces of the Fiscal Year 2027 Hospice Wage Index final rule and offers analysis of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ decisions to move forward with the Services and Spending Variation Index and the addendum requirement for all patients.

CMS Releases Non-Compliance Letters for Quality Reporting Programs

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released notifications on August 5 notifying providers that were determined to be out of compliance with Quality Reporting Program (QRP) requirements for CY 2025, which will affect their FY 2027 Annual Payment Update (APU). Non-compliance notifications were sent to providers’ My Reports folders in the Internet Quality Improvement and Evaluation System (iQIES), for Hospices and SNFs on August 5 and are additionally being distributed by the Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs). Facilities that receive a letter of non-compliance may submit a request for reconsideration to CMS via email no later than 11:59 pm, September 4, 2026.


If you receive a notice of non-compliance and would like to request a reconsideration, see the instructions in your notice of non-compliance and on the appropriate QRP webpage:


SNF Quality Reporting Reconsideration and Exception & Extension


Hospice Quality Reporting Reconsideration Requests

Join the National Healthcare at Home Best Practices Study

LeadingAge is excited to announce the launch of the second National Healthcare at Home Best Practices Study led by HealthPivots. As a study sponsor, LeadingAge encourages home health and hospice agencies to participate in the study to ensure a strong showing of nonprofit, mission driven providers. This is a valuable opportunity to benchmark your agency's practices against peers nationally and gain insights that can help shape future strategy. We encourage you to sign up today to ensure your agency doesn't miss out on the results. For agencies who already signed up for the study, you should have received a survey link via email. Links and reminders are sent every Tuesday, so please check your inbox (and spam folder) if you haven't seen yours. Those who did not previously sign up can Sign Up Here, and a survey link will be sent to you. The deadline to participate is September 15. Only participating agencies will receive the aggregate results from the study


Tip Sheet: Proposed CY 2027 Home Health Comments

To support members in developing comments on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) calendar year (CY) 2027 Home Health proposed rule (CMS-1844-P), LeadingAge has developed this resource, which includes tips and links to additional information related to the proposed home health provisions. NOTE: In addition to home health specific proposals, the CY 2027 Home Health proposed rule included substantial changes to Medicare enrollment for all provider types. For comment guidance on those, please refer to a separate, soon-to-be published document, “Tips for Submitting Comments on Medicare Enrollment Provisions.”



Home Health Trend Reports Updated


The new Home Health Trend Reports are now available in the LeadingAge Report Portal (https://leadingage.org/leadingage-report-portal/) 


Here is your weekly  Home Health Weekly Recap from National.

Here is your weekly  Hospice Weekly Recap from National.

By Kierstin Reed August 6, 2026
Proposed Rule Rolls Back Community Reinvestment Act Obligations. Of great concern to LeadingAge and others interested in expanding and preserving the nation’s supply of affordable housing, the Department of Treasury, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) posted a joint rulemaking on July 31, 2026, amending the regulations implementing the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) that could weaken investment in affordable housing and community development. The CRA was enacted in 1977 and requires federal banking regulators to encourage financial institutions to help meet the credit needs of the communities in which they do business, including in low and moderate-income (LMI) neighborhoods. In particular, a financial institution’s record of meeting the credit needs of its entire community is taken into account by federal regulators when evaluating the financial institution’s application for a deposit facility. Among the changes that the rule proposes for evaluating whether a financial institution is meeting its CRA requirements are: restricting the large bank service test to a bank’s “credit services” – i.e., lending – rather than deposit services; imposing a 15% cap on indirect costs that recipients of community development grants at large banks may incur; recalibrating asset thresholds for small, immediate, and large banks; and tailoring retail lending tests to focus only on a bank’s major product line(s). In particular, the recalibration of asset thresholds would likely reduce the number of banks incentivized to make loans and investments in affordable housing and community development, such as investing in the Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC). LeadingAge is concerned that this rule would further limit opportunities for affordable housing for older adults, and we will continue to work with our housing partners to coordinate a response in opposing this rule. While this rule has yet to be published in the Federal Register, there will be a 60 day comment period from the date of publication.
By Kierstin Reed August 6, 2026
Senators Introduce Older Adult Home Modification Tax Credit Bill
By Kierstin Reed August 6, 2026
LeadingAge Submits Comments on Medicaid Work Requirements Rule. On July 31, LeadingAge submitted comments on the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Rule : Medicaid Program; Community Engagement Requirement for Certain Individuals. Our comments highlighted the unique needs and conditions of older adults, including those in affordable housing, by urging categorical exemptions for individuals that have elected hospice or palliative care, more flexibility in the medical frailty exemption, and increased state flexibility in implementing the rule. The rule was released as an interim final rule with comment. The rule is effective July 31, as it was written, though CMS has indicated they may make changes. Our comments can be found here . Court Order Officially Ends Haiti TPS An August 5, 2026, order issued by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia implements the Supreme Court’s decision in Miot v. Trump and lifts the court’s prior stay of the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) termination of Haiti’s Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designation. As a result, the judicial order that had temporarily delayed the termination is no longer in effect, and Haiti TPS has officially ended. As a reminder, DHS guidance indicates that employment authorization documents (EADs) associated with Haiti TPS expired on July 27, 2026. Here is your weekly Workforce Weekly Recap
By Kierstin Reed August 6, 2026
COVID “Up to Date” Definition Will Not Change
By Kierstin Reed August 6, 2026
Are You Truly Storm Ready?
By Kierstin Reed August 6, 2026
Analysis of FY 2027 SNF PPS Final Rule. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) finalized the Fiscal Year 2027 Skilled Nursing Facilities Prospective Payment System rule on July 29. The rule was finalized mostly as proposed with a 2.4% payment update for SNFs in fiscal year 2027, the removal of two measures from the SNF Quality Reporting Program, and changes to data submission timelines and requirements for SNF QRP and SNF Value-based Purchasing. Read the details here.
By Kierstin Reed August 6, 2026
Join Our Advocacy Movement
By Kierstin Reed July 30, 2026
LeadingAge Webinar on Tenant Compliance Must-Dos for Affordable Senior Housing, August 19, 2-3:15 p.m. ET. Join the LeadingAge housing community for a webinar by compliance expert Jenny DeSilva, who will review unique rules and requirements for HUD-assisted senior housing communities. Participants will receive practical guidance to stay prepared for HUD oversight while supporting older adults as they age in community. Register here . Affordable housing Weekly Recap . Here is your weekly Affordable Housing Weekly Recap
By Kierstin Reed July 30, 2026
Join the National Healthcare at Home Best Practices Study
By Kierstin Reed July 30, 2026
CPR for ALL Direct Care Staff
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