Medicare: New Rules to Stop Home Health Care Fraud
The Senate Finance Committee received this bill on August 5, 2026, and it has not moved since that date. The committee must now decide whether to hold a vote on the proposal. Most bills do not receive a committee vote, so this legislation is currently stalled.
While stopping fraud is popular, the changes to how much Medicare pays companies will likely face strong pushback from healthcare lobbyists.
Scores run from -100 (strongly harmful) to +100 (strongly beneficial) for each group, combining impact, certainty, scope, and duration ratings of 1-5. How impact scoring works
Most home health agencies are small businesses, and this bill adds new costs: fingerprinting of administrators, mandatory liability insurance, more frequent government surveys, and steeper penalties (up to 15%) for missing quality-data deadlines. At the same time, it locks in a set 2027 payment rate and blocks certain future payment cuts, which could offset some of that added compliance burden for agencies that follow the rules.
“require obtaining evidence that such home health agency has a comprehensive liability insurance policy, as determined by the Secretary”
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance. (Sponsor introductory remarks on measure: CR S4477-4478)
Sent to a congressional committee for expert review. The committee decides whether this bill moves forward.
Introduced in Senate
The bill was officially filed and given a number. It now enters the legislative queue.
Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) introduced a bill that would give CMS additional tools to prevent home health fraud and reset the Medicare home health payment rate to levels seen before years of payment cuts. The bill would require additional pre-enrollment steps and more frequent surveys.
U.S. Sen. Susan Collins introduced legislation Friday aimed at strengthening oversight of the Medicare home health program, combating fraud, and protecting legitimate agencies from reimbursement losses caused by fraudulent billing schemes.
The bill would require fingerprinting of administrators at home health agencies CMS deems to present extreme fraud risk, along with proof of liability insurance. CMS would gain authority to determine which factors indicate extreme fraud risk and impose strict screening requirements.
No votes or related bills recorded for this bill yet.
Document Type
Congressional Bill
Official Title
Medicare Home Health Payment Integrity and Protection Act of 2026
Analysis generated by AI. Always verify with official sources.