Hospice & Home Health News 2026May07

Kierstin Reed • May 7, 2026

CMS Posts HQRP Forum Recording and Materials

On February 26, 2026, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) hosted an HQRP Forum entitled HOPE for the Future. Providers can now access the materials including the slides, transcript, and the recorded video in the Downloads section on the Provider and Stakeholder Engagement | CMS webpage. During the discussion CMS reviewed a series of Q&As of common questions raised with CMS including questions around medications and symptom follow up visit timing, and coding expectations for principle diagnosis, comorbidities, and General Inpatient coding. LeadingAge was pleased to see these clarifications and will continue to seek their incorporation into the HOPE guidance documents.

Home Health April Care Compare Refresh Now Live! 

The April 2026 refresh of the Home Health Quality Reporting Program is now available on the compare tool on Medicare.gov and Provider Data Catalog (PDC). LeadingAge has also updated the members-only reports which ensure members have relevant data that can help assess quality measures in various contexts (historical or in comparison to local competitors, for instance). The April 2026 refresh includes the removal of one OASIS-based measure, COVID-19 Vaccine: Percent of Patients Who Are Up to Date. The data for the April 2026 update are based on quality assessment data submitted by home health agencies (HHAs) to Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) from Quarter 3, 2024 through Quarter 2, 2025. The data for the claims-based measures will display data from Quarter 1, 2023 through Quarter 4, 2024 for the Discharge to Community and Medicare Spending Per Beneficiary measures, Quarter 1, 2022 through Quarter 4, 2024 for the Potentially Preventable 30-Day Post-Discharge Readmission measure, and Quarter 1, 2024 through Quarter 4, 2024 for the Home Health Within-Stay Potentially Preventable Hospitalization measure. Additionally, the data for the HHCAHPS measures will display data from Quarter 4, 2024 through Quarter 3, 2025.

FY2027 Hospice Rule LeadingAge Member Meetings

In order to provide adequate time for LeadingAge member feedback on the proposals in the FY2027 Hospice Rule we are offering three different sessions focused on specific topics. We encourage members to engage staff including CFOs, palliative care teams, and compliance and quality managers.

  • Tuesday, May 12, 2 p.m. ET – Hospice Member Network: During this meeting, members will discuss the payment update for FY2026, the request for information on hospice wage index changes, the establishment of G-Codes for telehealth face-to-face.
  • Wednesday, May 13, 2 p.m. ET – Special Palliative Care Provider Meeting: During this meeting, members will discuss the request for information on community-based palliative care. Members who have Part B billing practices for palliative care as well as home health agencies supporting palliative care are encouraged to join and share their perspectives of current billing and quality challenges.
  • Friday, May 15, 11 a.m. ET – Reschedule Hospice Quality and Compliance Workgroup: During this meeting, members will review the Services and Spending Variation Index in detail as well as the proposal to require an election addendum for every patient. We will also discuss the proposed Care Compare Icon for non-compliance with the Hospice Quality Reporting Program.



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
Analysis: FY2027 Hospice Wage Index Final Rule
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
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