July 30, 2026
[CHE, ADUS, PNTG, EHC, UHS, ACHC]: Final FY27 Medicare Rules Overall In-Line, Longer-Term Pressure on Hospice and IRFs
Final FY27 Medicare reimbursement rules for hospices [CHE, ADUS, PNTG, BTSG, AVAH, Gentiva, Compassus, Elara], inpatient rehab facilities (IRFs) [EHC, Select Medical, Kindred], and inpatient psych facilities (IPFs) [UHS, ACHC], were largely in line with…
July 2, 2026
Home Health: Medicare Proposal Seeks Modest 3% PDGM Recoupment Cut but Ups Spending by 2.4% and Rates Even More
Home health (HH) agencies [PNTG, BTSG, AVAH, UNH, ADUS, Elara] received a favorable surprise in CMS’s proposed CY27 Medicare HH reimbursement rule, released Wednesday. The regulation includes: A temporary 3% recoupment adjustment, matching the final…
May 13, 2026
Hospice / Home Health Moratorium Headwind & Advantages for Established Operators [CHE, PNTG, EHAB, BTSG]
CMS’s announcement of a six-month moratorium on new hospice and home health agency enrollment in Medicare is the latest escalation in the administration’s broader crackdown on alleged waste fraud, and abuse, reinforcing its ongoing targeting…
April 24, 2026
Hospice: Program Integrity Still Overhang, but Large Agencies Insulated; How SSVI May Be Tweaked [CHE, PNTG, BTSG, ADUS, AVAH]
CHE’s comments on its 1Q26 earnings call this morning regarding the government’s efforts to rein in Medicare waste, fraud and abuse in hospice reinforce our prior views that program integrity, instead of the sufficiency of…
April 5, 2026
Hospices: Proposed FY27 Increase In-Line but Softer Than FY26, Program Integrity Risk Builds [CHE, ADUS, PNTG, EHAB, BTSG, AVAH, Gentiva, Compassus, Elara]
FY27 Medicare reimbursement proposal for hospices [CHE, ADUS, PNTG, EHAB, BTSG, AVAH, Gentiva, Compassus, Elara] matched our expectations, reflecting a smaller aggregate increase versus FY26 but consistent with the statutory formula. While modest upside is…
February 3, 2026
Hospices: Heightened CMS Scrutiny, Targeted CMS Enforcement, and Limited Sector-Wide Risk [CHE, BTSG, PNTG, ADUS, Elara Caring, Compassus]
The recent public clash between CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz and California Governor Gavin Newsom (D-CA) over Medicare fraud has renewed questions about whether the hospice industry [CHE, BTSG, PNTG, ADUS, AVAH, UNH, private Elara Caring…
November 30, 2025
Home Health: CY26 Medicare Cuts Softened; CY27+ Still Points to Small YoY Declines [PNTG, EHAB, BTSG, ADUS, AVAH, UNH]
Home health (HH) agencies [PNTG, EHAB, BTSG, ADUS, AVAH, UNH] received meaningful relief in Friday’s final CY26 Medicare HH reimbursement rule, which pares back the proposed aggregate spending cut and rate discounts. However, CMS signals…
October 8, 2025
[EHAB, PNTG, ADUS, BTSG, UNH, AVAH]: Medicare Home Health Expectations
We remain optimistic that home health companies [EHAB, PNTG, ADUS, BTSG, UNH, AVAH] will secure some mitigation in the final CY26 Medicare reimbursement rule, which may be released as early as month’s end and as…
August 13, 2025
[PNTG, EHAB, BTSG, ADUS, AMED, AVAH, UNH]: Where Might CMS Go with Home Health Rates?
With slightly more than two weeks left in CMS’s comment period for the CY26 Medicare reimbursement proposal rule for home health [PNTG, EHAB, BTSG, ADUS, AVAH, AMED, UNH], we continue to expect mitigation from CMS’s…
July 1, 2025
[AMED, PNTG, EHAB, ADUS, BTSG]: Medicare Home Health Rates Worse Than Expected
Home health agencies [AMED, PNTG, EHAB, ADUS, BTSG, AVAH, UNH] received a negative surprise late Monday with CMS seeking to cut Medicare home health aggregate spending by 6.4% for CY26. The agency’s proposal to impose…