Hospices will see a payment update in October that is slightly higher than expected, according to the fiscal year 2026 Hospice Wage Index and Payment Rate Update final rule, released late Friday, Aug. 1, 2025.  
   
The rule includes a hospice payment update of 2.6% beginning in October 2025. The payment update would mean an estimated $750 million in increased payments to hospices, according to CMS.  
 
The proposed rule in April included a 2.4% increase. CMS uses updated data when determining the final payment change. The rate update is still lower than the 2.9% increase for fiscal year 2025. 
 
With the updated rate, the aggregate cap per patient will be $35,361.44, up from the fiscal year 2025 cap of $34,465.34. 
  
The final rule also:   
  • Provides clarification in payment regulations that the physician member of the hospice interdisciplinary group may recommend admission to hospice.  
  • Clarifies that hospice face-to-face encounter attestations must include the signature and date of the signature of the physician or nurse practitioner. New in the final rule: Providers will have additional flexibility by allowing a signed and dated clinical note to satisfy the attestation requirement. 
  • Reiterates that the implementation of the Hospice Outcomes and Patient Evaluation (HOPE) tool will be Oct. 1, 2025, with public reporting no earlier than Oct. 1, 2027.  
  • Reviews input on future quality measure concepts and advancing digital quality measurement.  
The final rule is scheduled for publication on Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2025. View an early release of the final rule at https://public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2025-14782.pdf
 

Note: For more on the hospice payment rule updates, join us for the Home Health Payment and Compliance Virtual Summit on Sept. 9-10, 2025. You will receive all the latest updates from CMS and gain a chance to earn nursing and BMSC CEUs.