Skilled nursing homes would receive a 2.8% payment bump in fiscal 2026 under a proposed rule the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced late Friday.
CMS said the proposed rate increase includes a market basket update of 3%, a 0.6% market basket forecast error adjustment and a cut of 0.8% due to a productivity adjustment. The proposed pay hike is far below the 4.2% pay increase CMS gave nursing homes in fiscal 2025.
Related: CMS proposes Medicare pay hikes for hospitals
American Health Care Association President Clifton Porter applauded the proposed Medicare rate increase. He urged the Trump administration to ensure that nursing homes continue to receive healthy Medicaid and Medicare Advantage reimbursements, as well.
"We will continue to encourage policymakers to consider this tapestry of government programs that contribute to our providers’ ability to maintain access, enhance quality care, and invest in improvements," Porter said in a news release. "Our nation’s leaders must ensure that our Medicare and Medicaid programs are strong, so that nursing homes can continue to care for America’s seniors and the most vulnerable.”
CMS also proposed removing next year four standardized patient assessment data elements from the quality reporting program, all of which fall under social determinants of health. The items include information on patients' living situations, utilities and food.
The proposed rule also includes requests for information as the agency looks for public input on ways that CMS can provide skilled nursing facilities more timely quality data.
In a separate rule, CMS proposed to give inpatient rehabilitation facilities a 2.6%, or $295 million, rate increase next year based on a proposed market basket update of 3.4% minus a proposed 0.8 percentage point productivity adjustment.
Hospice providers would receive a proposed 2.4%, or $695 million, rate hike in fiscal 2026 under another rule released Friday. The payment rate is the result of a proposed 3.2% inpatient hospital market basket update minus a proposed 0.8% productivity adjustment required by law.
