# 119-s-5250: Medicare Home Health Payment Integrity and Protection Act of 2026

119-s-5250, Medicare Home Health Payment Integrity and Protection Act of 2026, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Sen. Collins, Susan M. [R-ME] (R-ME); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-09-16).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-5250
- As of: 2026-09-16
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-s-5250
- Congress: 119
- Title: Medicare Home Health Payment Integrity and Protection Act of 2026
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2026-08-05
- Sponsor: Sen. Collins, Susan M. [R-ME] (R-ME)
- Cosponsors: 1
- Policy area: Health
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-09-16

## Summary

**This bill would tighten Medicare's home health fraud defenses and reset payment rates, with new enrollment checks, stronger surveys, and data‑integrity safeguards.** It targets unreliable claims and aims to stop fraud from distorting payments and quality measures.

## Cosponsors (1)

- Sen. Blackburn, Marsha [R-TN] (R-TN), 2026-09-14T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- Funding to fight home health fraud: benefit, medium. If enacted, the bill would provide $300 million to CMS, $150 million to DOJ and the HHS Inspector General, and $100 million to CMS for State survey activities for fiscal years 2027–2031. The funds would support implementing the bill, investigations and prosecutions of organized home health fraud, a…
- Tighter enrollment and agency surveys: cost, medium. If enacted, starting one year after enactment the Secretary would flag home health agencies at "extreme risk" based on local spikes in agency counts. Agencies the Secretary flags would need to provide administrator fingerprints (when fingerprinting is part of screening) and show they carry comprehe…
- Home health payment and data changes: mixed, high. If enacted, the bill would set the standard Medicare home health unit payment at $2,382.87 for services in 2027. Beginning in 2027 the Secretary would be barred from using certain PDGM-based offsets when adjusting payments. The Secretary would have to exclude or adjust "suspect claims" when computi…
- Stronger accreditation and oversight rules: mixed, medium. If enacted, beginning one year after enactment the Secretary would only approve national accreditation bodies whose survey procedures meet or exceed State survey standards. Surveyors would have to finish CMS basic surveyor training before serving. The Secretary would set up regular performance chec…

## Related bills

- 119-s-4744: Take Care of America’s Veterans Act
- 119-s-2120: Older Americans Act Reauthorization Act of 2025
- 119-s-1748: Kids Online Safety Act
- 119-s-1949: Combating Violent and Dangerous Crime Act
- 119-s-1541: SHIPS for America Act of 2025
- 119-s-1874: Title VIII Nursing Workforce Reauthorization Act of 2026

## Sources
- [119-s-5250 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/5250)

## Related
- [119-s-4744: Take Care of America’s Veterans Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-4744)
- [119-s-2120: Older Americans Act Reauthorization Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-2120)
- [119-s-1748: Kids Online Safety Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-1748)
- [119-s-1949: Combating Violent and Dangerous Crime Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-1949)
- [119-s-1541: SHIPS for America Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-1541)
- [119-s-1874: Title VIII Nursing Workforce Reauthorization Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-1874)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-5250 (as of 2026-09-16).