Medicare Home Health Payment Integrity and Protection Act of 2026

• Seniors and Medicare beneficiaries would gain stronger protections from fraud through rules that require excluding suspect claims from payment and benchmark calculations and by boosting survey and accreditation oversight.
• Home health agencies would face tougher enrollment and oversight rules, including fingerprinting and proof of liability insurance for agencies deemed extreme risk, monthly surveys for new or changed agencies for 36 months, and a 15 percentage point increase in certain data‑submission penalties starting in 2029 plus a 30‑day good‑faith extension process.
• Medicare payment rules would be reset for 2027 using 2020 as a baseline and excluding unreliable data, and certain payment adjustments would be suspended for 2027 and later. The bill also funds implementation and enforcement with about $550 million for CMS, the Department of Justice and the Office of Inspector General, and state survey activities across FY2027–2031.

*Net effect: increases federal spending by about $550 million over FY2027–2031 to implement and enforce home health integrity reforms.*