FY 2027 Hospice Payment Rate Update Final Rule Summary

On August 3, 2026, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published in the Federal Register (91 FR 49118) a final rule updating the Medicare hospice payment rates, wage index and Hospital Quality Reporting Program (HQRP) for FY 2027. This final rule also includes an analysis of Medicare non-hospice spending under a hospice election, including details regarding a hospice service and spending variation index that is intended to help CMS monitor utilization of hospices and signal potential program integrity risks. In addition, CMS finalizes its proposal to require hospices to provide the hospice election statement addendum to all Medicare beneficiaries at the time of hospice election, rather than upon request. This final rule also summarizes comments received from requests for information on enhancing community palliative care services, the development of a hospice-specific wage index, and information regarding the overlap between hospice and assisted suicide or “medical aid in dying.” With respect to the HQRP, CMS finalizes its proposal to add an icon on the Medicare.gov Compare Tool to identify hospices that have failed to meet HQRP reporting requirements, and also provides an update on the recently-implemented Hospice Outcomes and Patient Evaluation assessment tool.