Health and Human Services Department, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
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.
Document Headings Document headings vary by document type but may contain the following: the agency or agencies that issued and signed a document the number of the CFR title and the number of each part the document amends, proposes to amend, or is directly related to the agency docket number / agency internal file number the RIN which identifies each regulatory action listed in the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions See the Document Drafting Handbook for more details. Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services 42 CFR Part 418 [CMS-1851-F] RIN 0938-AV78 ( printed page 49118) AGENCY: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). ACTION: Final rule. SUMMARY: 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. DATES: These regulations are effective on October 1, 2026. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For general questions about hospice payment policy, send your inquiry via email to: hospicepolicy@cms.hhs.gov . For questions regarding the CAHPS® Hospice Survey, contact Lauren Fuentes at (410) 786-2290. For questions re…
Citation: 91 FR 49118
