Hospice FY 2027 payments and corrected aggregate impact estimate
Oct 11, 2026 edition · GC-2026-0146 · Published 2026-10-11 · Version 3 · Final
R13976 replaces hospice payment tables after wage-index recalculation. The corrected rates, quality-reporting reduction, cap amount, and aggregate impact analysis serve different purposes and cannot be substituted for one another in claim configuration.
What happened
The September 30 transmittal replaces R13924 and updates the FY 2027 tables following recalculation of hospice wage-index values for all CBSAs and rural areas. It applies to care furnished October 1, 2026 through September 30, 2027, with October 5 implementation. The ordinary payment update is 2.3 percent after the productivity adjustment; failure to meet quality-reporting requirements reduces that update by four percentage points to minus 1.7 percent. Actual payment also depends on the applicable level of care and geographic wage adjustment.
The Federal Register correction traces the recalculation to hospital wage data that had been wrongly excluded because an IPPS hospital was classified as a rural emergency hospital. It corrects national payment tables, quality-reporting alternatives, and the aggregate hospice impact table as part of the August final-rule framework. Separately, the transmittal sets the FY 2027 aggregate cap at $36,174.75 for the October-to-September cap year. That cap and the modeled aggregate impact are not a universal provider payment rate; rate-table reconciliation must retain the wage adjustment and reporting-status distinctions.
Scope and timing
- Authority status
- Final
- Applicability
- Operationally relevant
- Audience
- Health systems, Provider networks
- Jurisdiction
- Federal
- Affected functions
- Revenue Cycle, Compliance, Clinical Operations
- Responsible owner
- Revenue Cycle
- Recorded date
- 2026-10-05
- Date type
- implementation
Why it matters
Budget estimates and claim payment rates are different measures. Conflating them would configure the wrong hospice rate.
Recommended action
Use the applicable wage-adjusted rate and quality-reporting adjustment; reconcile the replacement instructions and distinguish the aggregate impact estimate from the payment update.
Implementation playbook
- Use the applicable wage-adjusted rate and quality-reporting adjustment; reconcile the replacement instructions and distinguish the aggregate impact estimate from the payment update. Revenue Cycle · Due 2026-10-05
- Record the applicability assessment and validate the affected workflow with its operational owner. This is an internal review target, not an additional statutory deadline. Compliance · Due 2026-10-12
Sources
- CMS Transmittal R13976CPOfficial · Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services · 2026-09-30 · Source review 2026-10-11
- Medicare Program; FY 2027 Hospice Wage Index and Payment Rate Update and Hospice Quality Reporting Program Requirements; CorrectionOfficial · Health and Human Services Department, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services · 2026-09-30 · Source review 2026-10-11
Complete edition and supplemental material
This finding in the complete approved report →Regulatory horizons, CIA trends and implementation trackers remain in the full report.
Read the entire Medicare & Medicaid report →