# Federal Register #2026-20067

CMS correction to Medicare hospice wage index and payment rates

**Buyer:** Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
**Posted:** September 30, 2026
**Identifier:** 2026-20067

CMS issued a technical correction to its Medicare hospice payment rule; this notice is not a procurement opportunity.
- **Government entity:** Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
- **Action:** Corrects errors in the FY 2027 Hospice Wage Index and Payment Rate Update and Hospice Quality Reporting Program Requirements.
- **Correction details:** Restores data for a hospital mistakenly excluded from wage-index calculations and updates related hospice wage-index values, standardization factors, payment rates, figures, and impact tables, including rates for hospices that do and do not submit required quality data.
- **Policy impact:** The correction does not change the rule’s underlying policies or payment methodologies.
- **Procurement:** No products or services, quantities, part numbers, OEMs, or vendors are identified.

### Description

This final rule correction addresses technical errors in the FY 2027 hospice wage index and payment rate update rule published August 3, 2026. CMS restored data for a hospital that was inadvertently excluded from wage-index calculations and recalculated hospice wage-index values, standardization factors, and payment rates. It makes corresponding corrections to the rule’s preamble, tables, and impact analysis. The correction is effective October 1, 2026.

[View original listing](https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/09/30/2026-20067/medicare-program-fy-2027-hospice-wage-index-and-payment-rate-update-and-hospice-quality-reporting)