# 2026-15588: CMS Finalizes 2027 Inpatient Psych Payment Rates and Tweaks

2026-15588, Medicare Program; FY 2027 Inpatient Psychiatric Facilities Prospective Payment System-Rate Update, is a Federal Register rule from Health and Human Services Department, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services published 2026-07-31, effective 2026-10-01; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-08-07).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2026-15588
- As of: 2026-08-07
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Document number: 2026-15588
- Title: Medicare Program; FY 2027 Inpatient Psychiatric Facilities Prospective Payment System-Rate Update
- Type: Rule
- Agencies: Health and Human Services Department; Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
- Citation: 91 FR 48514
- Published: 2026-07-31
- Effective: 2026-10-01
- Comments close: not stated
- Significant: no
- Touches household money: yes
- Regulation identifier numbers: 0938-AV77
- Last updated: 2026-08-07

## In one line

CMS Finalizes 2027 Inpatient Psych Payment Rates and Tweaks

## Summary

This final rule updates the prospective payment rates, the outlier threshold, and the wage index for Medicare inpatient hospital services provided by Inpatient Psychiatric Facilities (IPFs), which include psychiatric hospitals and excluded psychiatric units of an acute care hospital or critical access hospital. This final rule also refines the Inpatient Psychiatric Facilities Prospective Payment System (IPF PPS) outlier policy. These changes will be effective for IPF discharges occurring during the fiscal year beginning October 1, 2026, through September 30, 2027. We are also finalizing the implementation of a standardized IPF patient assessment instrument, and removing two measures used in the Inpatient Psychiatric Facilities Quality Reporting Program.

## Effects PRIA read

- FY 2027 IPF Medicare Payment Updates: benefit, medium. Medicare payment rates to Inpatient Psychiatric Facilities (IPFs) are updated for the FY beginning October 1, 2026. The Federal per diem base rate increases from $892.87 to $912.40 (and to $894.56 for IPFs that failed to report quality data); the electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) payment per treatmen…
- Cap on IPF Outlier Payments (20%): cost, medium. CMS finalizes a policy to limit an IPF's outlier payments to no more than 20 percent of its total IPF PPS payments in a year, effective October 1, 2027. IPFs with fewer than 50 stays per year are exempt from this 20 percent limit.
- Standardized IPF Assessment; Two Measures Removed: mixed, medium. CMS finalizes implementation of a standardized Inpatient Psychiatric Facility patient assessment instrument (IPF-PAI) and finalizes removal of two IPF Quality Reporting Program measures: Alcohol Use Brief Intervention Provided or Offered and Alcohol Use Brief Intervention (SUB-2/2a) and Tobacco Use…

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## Sources
- [2026-15588 on federalregister.gov](https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/07/31/2026-15588/medicare-program-fy-2027-inpatient-psychiatric-facilities-prospective-payment-system-rate-update)
- [2026-15588 as published (PDF)](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2026-07-31/pdf/2026-15588.pdf)

## Related
- [Previous: 2026-15586, Removal of References to the Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedure…](https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2026-15586)
- [Next: 2026-15589, Procedures for Settling Claims](https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2026-15589)
- [All Federal Register documents](https://policyrisk.com/federal-register)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2026-15588 (as of 2026-08-07).