Pulse brief · 1 cited source · July 19, 2026
HHS watchdog opens review of Medicare hospice payments in nursing homes
A new HHS Inspector General review will estimate savings from reducing the hospice routine home care rate, which covers personal care that nursing homes are already required to provide.
The Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General announced a review on July 15 of Medicare hospice payments for routine home care provided in nursing homes. The issue is an overlap in what Medicare pays for: the fixed daily rates Medicare pays hospices for routine home care include personal care services, but nursing homes are already required to provide personal care to their residents. Paying the hospice the full rate anyway, the office says, can undermine the efficiency of Medicare payments and add to the incentives that bad actors have to exploit the program. The review, listed as active under the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, will determine Medicare payments for routine home care provided to hospice beneficiaries in nursing homes, estimate potential cost savings from reducing the payment, and examine the practices of hospices with a high percentage of their beneficiaries in nursing homes.
Evidence
Each statement shown below is a verified claim this source supports.
- The review, "Savings in Medicare Hospice Payments for Care Provided in Nursing Homes," is a Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General project.
- The review was announced on July 15, 2026.
- The review will determine Medicare payments for routine home care provided to hospice beneficiaries in nursing homes, estimate potential cost savings from reducing the payment, and examine practices of hospices with a high percentage of their beneficiaries in nursing homes.
- The fixed daily rates that Medicare pays hospices for routine home care provided in a nursing home include personal care services.
- Nursing homes are already required to provide personal care services to their residents.
- The OIG says paying the hospice the full routine home care rate when personal care services are already required from the nursing home can undermine the efficiency of Medicare payments and add to the incentives that bad actors have to exploit the program.
- The review is listed as active, with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services as the agency.