2026 FINAL RULES SKILLED NURSING
An Analysis and Commentary on Federal Health Care Issues by Larry Goldberg
Final FY 2026 Skilled Nursing Facility PPS Update Issued
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) have issued a final rule to update the Medicare Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) prospective payment system for FY 2026.
The 153-page document is scheduled for publication in the Federal Register on August 4. A display copy is currently available at: https://public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2025-14679.pdf.
In addition, the rule includes a proposed forecast error adjustment for FY 2026. CMS is also proposing several technical revisions to the code mappings used to classify patients under the Patient Driven Payment Model (PDPM) to improve payment and coding accuracy.
The wage index tables for this final rule can be accessed on the SNF PPS Wage Index home page at:
https://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Medicare-Fee-for-Service-Payment/SNFPPS/WageIndex.html.
As we write this analysis, the wage index link above does not take you to the final FY 2026 tables, but to the proposed FY 2026 tables.
The rulemaking also is updating the requirements for the SNF Quality Reporting Program and the SNF Value-Based Purchasing Program.