2025-23081: Medicare Program; Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility Prospective Payment System for Federal Fiscal Year 2026 and Updates to the IRF Quality Reporting Program; Correction

A. Summary of Errors in the Preamble

On pages 37678, 37681, 37698, 37699, 37718, 37719, 37720, 37721, and 37724, due to a technical error in the calculation of the final FY 2026 IRF PPS payment rates, we inadvertently excluded a provider from the FY 2026 payment rate analysis and impacts, which required recalculation of the payment rates and impact analysis. On page 37681, we included an incorrect section reference.

B. Summary of Errors and Corrections Posted on the CMS Website for the

IRF Wage Index After the FY 2026 IRF PPS final rule was published, we identified CMS Certification Numbers (CCNs) with more than 6 characters in the provider-specific file indicating there are providers with multiple records that have different provider characteristics. In the FY 2026 IRF PPS final rule, we inadvertently only included records with 6 character CCNs in our rate setting analysis resulting in one IRF provider being excluded from the rate setting data. Therefore, in this document we include that provider record with more than 6 characters with the most recent effective date. The inclusion of the 236 claims from this provider resulted in a change to the outlier threshold (section VI. of the FY 2026 IRF PPS final rule) and changes to the estimated payment impacts (section VII. of the FY 2026 IRF PPS final rule).

1. On page 37678, Table 1 titled ``Cost and Transfers'', second

row, second column, the figure that reads ``$340 million'' is corrected to read ``$335 million''.

2. On page 37681, second column,

a. Second bulleted paragraph, the section reference that reads ``VI'' is corrected to read ``VII''. b. Third bulleted paragraph, the section reference that reads ``VI'' is corrected to read ``VII''.

3. On page 37698, under Table 7, third column, last paragraph, line

9, the figure that reads ``$10,062'' is corrected to read ``$10,141''.

4. On page 37699, third column, first full paragraph,

a. Line 5, the figure that reads ``2.4'' is corrected to read ``2.5''. b. Line 8, the figure that reads ``$10,062'' is corrected to read ``$10,141''. c. Line 17, the figure that reads ``$10,062'' is corrected to read ``$10,141''.

5. On page 37718,

a. Second column, first full paragraph, line 10, the figure that reads ``$340 million'' is corrected to read ``$335 million''. b. Third column, (1) First partial paragraph, line 5, the figure that reads ``1,169'' is corrected to read ``1,170''. (2) First full paragraph, line 18, the figure that reads ``1,169'' is corrected to read ``1,170''.

6. On page 37719,

a. First column, first paragraph under the heading ``1. Impact on IRFs'', line 4, the figure that reads ``$340 million'' is corrected to read ``$335 million''. b. Second column, (1) First full paragraph, line 13, the figure that reads ``$340 million'' is corrected to read ``$335 million''. (2) Second full paragraph, line 14, the figure that reads ``$340 million'' is corrected to read ``$335 million''. c. Third column, under the heading ``2. Description of Table 14'', (1) Line 2, the figure that reads ``1,169'' is corrected to read ``1,170''. (2) Line 15, the figure that reads ``1,024'' is corrected to read ``1,025''. (3) Line 17, the figure that reads ``646'' is corrected to read ``647''. (4) Line 29, the figure that reads ``465'' is corrected to read ``466''.

7. On pages 37720 and 37721, Table 14 titled ``IRF Impact for FY

2026 (Columns 4 through 7 in percentages)'', is corrected to read as follows: Table 14--IRF Impact for FY 2026 [Columns 4 through 7 in percentages] ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FY 2026 CBSA & Total Facility classification Number of Number of Outlier FY 2026 wage CMG percent IRFs cases index weights change \1\ (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Total............................... 1,170 447,256 0.6 0.0 0.0 3.2 Urban unit.......................... 647 144,310 1.1 -0.2 0.0 3.6 Rural unit.......................... 131 18,147 0.9 -0.1 0.1 3.5 Urban hospital...................... 378 277,797 0.2 0.1 0.0 2.9 Rural hospital...................... 14 7,002 0.0 0.4 0.0 3.0 Urban For-Profit.................... 482 276,263 0.3 0.1 0.0 2.9 Rural For-Profit.................... 39 10,714 0.3 0.3 0.0 3.2 Urban Non-Profit.................... 466 127,753 1.0 -0.1 0.0 3.6 Rural Non-Profit.................... 87 12,573 0.9 -0.1 0.1 3.5 Urban Government.................... 77 18,091 1.2 -0.1 0.1 3.8 Rural Government.................... 19 1,862 0.6 -0.6 0.1 2.8 Urban............................... 1,025 422,107 0.6 0.0 0.0 3.2 Rural............................... 145 25,149 0.6 0.1 0.1 3.4 Urban by region: Urban New England............... 30 15,484 0.3 1.6 0.1 4.7 Urban Middle Atlantic........... 113 42,826 0.7 0.3 0.0 3.6 Urban South Atlantic............ 190 100,441 0.5 0.5 0.0 3.6 Urban East North Central........ 165 50,402 0.6 0.3 0.0 3.5 Urban East South Central........ 56 29,048 0.2 0.7 0.0 3.5 Urban West North Central........ 80 25,558 0.6 0.2 0.0 3.5 Urban West South Central........ 210 95,608 0.3 -0.7 0.0 2.1 Urban Mountain.................. 81 35,924 0.4 -0.5 0.0 2.4 Urban Pacific................... 100 26,816 1.5 -1.0 0.0 3.1 Rural by region: Rural New England............... 5 1,104 0.9 1.0 0.1 4.6 Rural Middle Atlantic........... 11 1,408 0.4 -1.4 0.1 1.6 Rural South Atlantic............ 17 6,383 0.2 0.1 0.0 2.9 Rural East North Central........ 23 3,022 1.2 0.3 0.0 4.1 Rural East South Central........ 19 3,284 0.5 -1.2 0.1 1.9 [[Page 58511]] Rural West North Central........ 19 2,310 1.1 0.2 0.1 4.0 Rural West South Central........ 44 7,042 0.5 0.4 0.1 3.6 Rural Mountain.................. 5 322 0.9 3.8 0.1 7.5 Rural Pacific................... 2 274 3.0 0.4 0.3 6.3 Teaching status: Non-teaching.................... 1,064 398,566 0.5 0.0 0.0 3.1 Resident to ADC less than 10%... 59 33,458 0.6 0.0 0.0 3.2 Resident to ADC 10%-19%......... 34 12,761 1.5 -0.3 0.0 3.8 Resident to ADC greater than 19% 13 2,471 0.9 0.2 0.1 3.8 Disproportionate share patient percentage (DSH PP): DSH PP = 0%..................... 52 12,309 0.6 -0.6 0.0 2.7 DSH PP <5%...................... 194 98,674 0.4 0.3 0.0 3.3 DSH PP 5%-10%................... 252 110,048 0.4 -0.1 0.0 3.0 DSH PP 10%-20%.................. 404 150,145 0.6 0.0 0.0 3.2 DSH PP greater than 20%......... 268 76,080 0.9 -0.2 0.0 3.4 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- \1\ This column includes the impact of the updates in columns (4), (5), and (6) above, and of the IRF market basket update for FY 2026 of 3.3 percent, reduced by 0.7 percentage point for the productivity adjustment as required by section 1886(j)(3)(C)(ii)(I) of the Act. Note, the products of these impacts may be different from the percentage changes shown here due to rounding effects.

8. On page 37721, under the heading ``3. Impact of the Update to

the Outlier Threshold Amount'', first column, second paragraph, a. Line 6, the figure that reads ``2.4'' is corrected to read ``2.5''. b. Line 10, the figure that reads ``$10,062'' is corrected to read ``$10,141''. c. Line 19, the figure that reads ``2.4'' is corrected to read ``2.5''.

9. On page 37724,

a. Table 19 titled ``Accounting Statement--Classification of Estimated Expenditure'', third column, the figure that reads ``$340 million'' is corrected to read ``$335 million''. b. Under the heading, ``G. Conclusion'', first column, third paragraph, line 5, the figure that reads ``7.6'' is corrected to read ``7.5''. Liesl I. Fowler, Executive Secretary to the Department, Department of Health and Human Services. [FR Doc. 2025-23081 Filed 12-16-25; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4120-01-P