CMS published its fiscal 2026 Skilled Nursing Facility Prospective Payment System final rule July 31.
Five things to know:
1. The rule finalizes a 3.2% pay bump for SNF, amounting to a $1.16 billion increase from fiscal 2025.
2. The increase is based on a 3.3% market basket update, a 0.6% forecast error adjustment and a -0.7% productivity adjustment.
3. The finalized pay increase is up from the 2.8% bump CMS proposed in April.
4. CMS finalized reductions to the SNF value-based purchasing program by $208.4 million in fiscal 2026.
5. CMS also finalized a proposal to remove four social determinants of health assessment items from the SNF Quality Reporting Program beginning Oct. 1, 2025:
- One item for “living situation”
- Two items for “food”
- One item for “utilities”
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