On April 7, 2026 CMS released the FY 2027 IPF Proposed Rule with a modest +2.3% net payment update. Key takeaways are the financial implications and operational changes.
Payment Update = +3.1% market basket update with -.8% productivity adjustment. (base rate increase from $892.87 to $912.58). The fixed dollar loss threshold amount moved to $37,820 from $39,360.
Financial Implications =
- $50M aggregate payment increases
- Redistribution across provider types and geographies
- With IPF’s approximately 79% labor-related cost structure, Wage Index will drive distributional changes
Operational Changes =
- Implementation of a standardized patient assessment instrument (IPF-PAI)
- Removal of two reporting measures (SUB-2/2a and TOB-3/3a)
New Policy =
- Proposal to cap outlier payments at 20% of total IPF payments per facility— a notable guardrail that could impact high-acuity providers.
