# 2026-15833: Medicare Finalizes 2027 Hospital Payment Rates and Rules 2026-15833, Medicare Program; Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment Systems for Acute Care Hospitals (IPPS) and the Long-Term Care Hospital Prospective Payment System and Policy Changes and Fiscal Year (FY) 2027 Rates; Requirements for Quality Programs; Other Policy Changes; and Adoption of Updated Versions of Certain Health Information Technology Standards, is a Federal Register rule from Health and Human Services Department, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services published 2026-08-04, effective 2026-10-01; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-08-11). - Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2026-15833 - As of: 2026-08-11 - Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts. ## Facts - Document number: 2026-15833 - Title: Medicare Program; Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment Systems for Acute Care Hospitals (IPPS) and the Long-Term Care Hospital Prospective Payment System and Policy Changes and Fiscal Year (FY) 2027 Rates; Requirements for Quality Programs; Other Policy Changes; and Adoption of Updated Versions of Certain Health Information Technology Standards - Type: Rule - Agencies: Health and Human Services Department; Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services - Citation: 91 FR 49570 - Published: 2026-08-04 - Effective: 2026-10-01 - Comments close: not stated - Significant: no - Touches household money: yes - Regulation identifier numbers: none - Last updated: 2026-08-11 ## In one line Medicare Finalizes 2027 Hospital Payment Rates and Rules ## Summary This final rule will revise the Medicare hospital inpatient prospective payment systems (IPPS) for operating and capital-related costs of acute care hospitals; make changes relating to Medicare graduate medical education (GME) for teaching hospitals; update the payment policies and the annual payment rates for the Medicare prospective payment system (PPS) for inpatient hospital services provided by long-term care hospitals (LTCHs); update and make changes to requirements for certain quality programs; and make other policy- related changes. ONC also adopts certain health information technology (health IT) standards and specifications on behalf of HHS. ## Effects PRIA read - Medicare TEAM Model Updates: benefit, medium. The mandatory Transforming Episode Accountability Model (TEAM) runs January 1, 2026 through December 31, 2030 and applies to certain procedure-based episode categories (CABG, LEJR, major bowel, SHFFT, and spinal fusion). CMS finalized updates that change episode triggers, quality measure timing, an… - CJR‑X: Mandatory Joint Replacement Model: benefit, medium. CMS is expanding the Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement Expanded (CJR‑X) Model nationally starting January 1, 2028. It will be mandatory for acute care hospitals (except those in TEAM and hospitals in Maryland) and holds hospitals accountable for lower extremity joint replacement (LEJR) episo… - Medicare-Dependent Hospital (MDH) Status Ends: cost, high. The Medicare-dependent, small rural hospital (MDH) program is extended only through December 31, 2026; beginning January 1, 2027, hospitals that previously had MDH status will no longer have MDH status and will be paid based on the IPPS Federal rate. - Low-Volume Hospital Payment Extension & Thresholds: benefit, medium. Section 6201 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2026 extends the modified low-volume hospital definition through the portion of FY 2027 occurring October 1, 2026 through December 31, 2026: a hospital qualifies if it is more than 15 road miles from another subsection (d) hospital and has fewer… - Advance Care Planning eCQM Adopted: benefit, low. CMS finalized adoption of the Advance Care Planning electronic clinical quality measure (eCQM) in the Hospital Inpatient Quality Reporting and Medicare Promoting Interoperability Programs and adopted it (with modification) in the PPS‑Exempt Cancer Hospital Quality Reporting Program, with mandatory… - Sepsis Readmission Measure for HRRP: benefit, low. CMS finalized adoption of the Hospital 30‑Day, All‑Cause, Risk‑Standardized Readmission Rate Following Sepsis Hospitalization measure for the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program with two years of early look reports for the FY 2028 and FY 2029 program years and full use beginning with the FY 203… - No‑Discrimination Rule for GME Programs: benefit, medium. CMS finalized a requirement that approved graduate medical education (GME) residency programs must not discriminate, or promote or encourage discrimination, on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, disability, or religion in selections, participation, resource allocation, or similar… - 90% Rule for New Residency Program Status: cost, medium. For a residency program to be considered new for cap‑building purposes, CMS finalized a criterion that at least 90 percent of individual residents must not have prior experience training in another program in the same specialty, with exceptions for small programs, displaced residents, and binding t… ## Related documents - [2026-20281](https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2026-20281): Global Benchmark for Efficient Drug Pricing (GLOBE) Model, 2026-10-02 - [2026-20131](https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2026-20131): Medicare Program; Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility Prospective Payment System for Federal Fiscal Year 2027 and Updates to the IRF Quality…, 2026-10-01 - [2026-19959](https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2026-19959): Medicare Program; Prospective Payment System and Consolidated Billing for Skilled Nursing Facilities; Updates to the Quality Reporting Prog…, 2026-09-30 - [2026-20067](https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2026-20067): Medicare Program; FY 2027 Hospice Wage Index and Payment Rate Update and Hospice Quality Reporting Program Requirements; Correction, 2026-09-30 - [2026-19946](https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2026-19946): Medicare Program; Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment Systems for Acute Care Hospitals (IPPS) and the Long-Term Care Hospital Prospectiv…, 2026-09-29 - [2026-15686](https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2026-15686): Medicare Program; FY 2027 Hospice Wage Index and Payment Rate Update and Hospice Quality Reporting Program Requirements, 2026-08-03 ## Sources - [2026-15833 on federalregister.gov](https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/08/04/2026-15833/medicare-program-hospital-inpatient-prospective-payment-systems-for-acute-care-hospitals-ipps-and) - [2026-15833 as published (PDF)](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2026-08-04/pdf/2026-15833.pdf) ## Related - [Previous: 2026-15825, Airworthiness Directives; Diamond Aircraft Industries Inc. Airplanes](https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2026-15825) - [Next: 2026-15835, Accessible Lavatories on Single-Aisle Aircraft and Ensuring Safe Accommodations…](https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2026-15835) - [All Federal Register documents](https://policyrisk.com/federal-register) Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/federal-register/2026-15833 (as of 2026-08-11).