https://americanhealthcarehub.com/news/Regulatory intelligence for home health and hospice agencies.https://americanhealthcarehub.com/news/cms-proposes-rule-to-boost-program-integrity-and-expand-home-health-access/https://americanhealthcarehub.com/news/cms-proposes-rule-to-boost-program-integrity-and-expand-home-health-access/Sat, 18 Jul 2026 20:33:12 GMTCMS has released a proposed rule targeting Medicare fraud, strengthening program integrity safeguards, and expanding access to home health care — changes that could have significant operational and compliance implications for home health agencies. https://americanhealthcarehub.com/news/california-s-first-real-hospice-rulebook-cdph-emergency-regulations/https://americanhealthcarehub.com/news/california-s-first-real-hospice-rulebook-cdph-emergency-regulations/Sat, 04 Jul 2026 08:00:00 GMTCDPH's emergency hospice regulations took effect June 22, 2026 — the first comprehensive operational licensing framework California hospices have ever had. They are effective immediately, they carry unannounced-inspection authority, and every California hospice should verify compliance now, not at renewal. https://americanhealthcarehub.com/news/fy-2027-hospice-proposed-rule-a-2-4-update-and-a-public-score-for-every-hospice/https://americanhealthcarehub.com/news/fy-2027-hospice-proposed-rule-a-2-4-update-and-a-public-score-for-every-hospice/Sat, 04 Jul 2026 08:00:00 GMTCMS's FY 2027 hospice proposed rule pairs a 2.4% payment update (~$785 million) with something more consequential: the Service and Spending Variation Index, a publicly posted score for every hospice built from nine claims-based metrics. The comment period closed June 1; the final rule typically lands by late July. https://americanhealthcarehub.com/news/hospice-telehealth-face-to-face-encounters-the-new-restrictions-are/https://americanhealthcarehub.com/news/hospice-telehealth-face-to-face-encounters-the-new-restrictions-are/Sat, 04 Jul 2026 08:00:00 GMTUnder the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2026, telehealth face-to-face recertification encounters are prohibited in specific circumstances for encounters on or after January 31, 2026 — and beginning January 1, 2027, any telehealth F2F must carry designated claim modifiers. Two dates, both with claims consequences. https://americanhealthcarehub.com/news/cms-freezes-new-home-health-and-hospice-medicare-enrollment-nationwide/https://americanhealthcarehub.com/news/cms-freezes-new-home-health-and-hospice-medicare-enrollment-nationwide/Sat, 04 Jul 2026 08:00:00 GMTEffective May 13, 2026, CMS imposed a six-month nationwide moratorium on new Medicare enrollments for home health agencies and hospices — and on certain majority ownership changes requiring re-enrollment. Currently enrolled providers are unaffected, but the surrounding enforcement posture touches everyone. https://americanhealthcarehub.com/news/cy-2027-home-health-proposed-rule-a-2-4-raise-with-a-3-asterisk/https://americanhealthcarehub.com/news/cy-2027-home-health-proposed-rule-a-2-4-raise-with-a-3-asterisk/Sat, 04 Jul 2026 08:00:00 GMTCMS proposes a 2.4% aggregate payment increase for home health in CY 2027 — the first increase after years of cuts — but pairs it with a 3.0% temporary recoupment adjustment and a major expansion of enrollment-revocation authority. Comments are due by 5 p.m. EDT on August 31, 2026. https://americanhealthcarehub.com/news/oasis-submission-deadline-would-shrink-from-4-5-months-to-45-days/https://americanhealthcarehub.com/news/oasis-submission-deadline-would-shrink-from-4-5-months-to-45-days/Sat, 04 Jul 2026 08:00:00 GMTInside the CY 2027 proposed rule is an operational change that will hit daily workflow harder than the payment update: OASIS assessment data submission deadlines would shrink from 4.5 months to 45 days, and QRP reporting would move to a calendar-year basis. https://americanhealthcarehub.com/news/california-live-discharge-audits-what-a-qlarant-letter-means-and-who/https://americanhealthcarehub.com/news/california-live-discharge-audits-what-a-qlarant-letter-means-and-who/Sat, 04 Jul 2026 08:00:00 GMTCMS, through its program-integrity contractor Qlarant, has been auditing California hospices with elevated live-discharge rates — with hundreds of agencies already facing payment suspensions and the audit window (live discharges from January 2025 through March 2026) suggesting further waves. If your live-discharge rate is high, prepare before the letter, not after. https://americanhealthcarehub.com/news/enrollment-revocations-would-go-retroactive-for-every-medicare/https://americanhealthcarehub.com/news/enrollment-revocations-would-go-retroactive-for-every-medicare/Sat, 04 Jul 2026 08:00:00 GMTTucked into the home health payment rule is a program-integrity package that applies to all Medicare providers and suppliers: every enrollment revocation would become retroactive to the date of noncompliance, and CMS would gain new grounds to deny or revoke enrollment — including trouble in other states' programs. https://americanhealthcarehub.com/news/oasis-e2-is-live-what-the-april-1-implementation-requires-now/https://americanhealthcarehub.com/news/oasis-e2-is-live-what-the-april-1-implementation-requires-now/Sat, 04 Jul 2026 08:00:00 GMTOASIS-E2 took effect for home health assessments on April 1, 2026, and CMS has since released the finalized data-collection materials. If your clinicians are still charting from E1 habit — or your vendor shipped the update late — the errors are accruing in submitted data right now. https://americanhealthcarehub.com/news/cdph-now-charges-for-report-of-change-applications/https://americanhealthcarehub.com/news/cdph-now-charges-for-report-of-change-applications/Sat, 04 Jul 2026 08:00:00 GMTUnder the FY 2025–26 fee schedule, CDPH charges fees for Report of Change applications from home health and hospice agencies — filings that were previously processed without explicit charges. Routine changes like personnel updates now carry a cost, and incomplete submissions risk denial and refiling. https://americanhealthcarehub.com/news/achc-focus-surveys-accreditation-is-no-longer-a-three-year-event/https://americanhealthcarehub.com/news/achc-focus-surveys-accreditation-is-no-longer-a-three-year-event/Sat, 04 Jul 2026 08:00:00 GMTACHC is conducting targeted, one-day focus surveys at selected home health and hospice agencies in states under enhanced CMS oversight — between regular reaccreditation cycles. Continuous survey-readiness has stopped being a best practice and become the operating assumption. https://americanhealthcarehub.com/news/california-s-hospice-license-moratorium-plan-for-mid-2027/https://americanhealthcarehub.com/news/california-s-hospice-license-moratorium-plan-for-mid-2027/Sat, 04 Jul 2026 08:00:00 GMTCalifornia has barred new hospice licenses since January 1, 2022. The statute ends the moratorium on January 1, 2027, or one year after emergency regulations are adopted — whichever is sooner — and with CDPH's emergency regulations adopted in June 2026, the practical planning date is January 1, 2027, but confirm the controlling interpretation with counsel before committing capital. https://americanhealthcarehub.com/news/palliative-care-under-the-home-health-benefit-cms-opens-the-door/https://americanhealthcarehub.com/news/palliative-care-under-the-home-health-benefit-cms-opens-the-door/Sat, 04 Jul 2026 08:00:00 GMTIn the CY 2027 proposed rule, CMS states that skilled palliative care services can be furnished and billed under the existing Medicare home health benefit for eligible patients with serious illness — with examples to follow in sub-regulatory guidance after the final rule. Providers have sought a community-based palliative pathway for years; this is the first concrete opening. https://americanhealthcarehub.com/news/the-hospice-election-addendum-would-become-mandatory-for-every/https://americanhealthcarehub.com/news/the-hospice-election-addendum-would-become-mandatory-for-every/Sat, 04 Jul 2026 08:00:00 GMTCMS proposes requiring hospices to provide the election statement addendum — the list of conditions, items, services, and drugs the hospice has determined are unrelated to the terminal illness — to every beneficiary at election, not only on request. If finalized, this converts an occasional document into a universal admission workflow step.