CMS Posts HHVBP Preliminary CY 2026 APRs in iQIES

by Megan Bernier, MSPT RAC-CT CHS-C COS-C

On October 1st, 2026, CMS posted the Preliminary CY 2026 Annual Performance Reports (CY 2026 APRs) for the expanded HHVBP Model in iQIES.

The CY 2026 APRs provide the HHA’s Annual Payment Percentage (APP) based on performance in CY 2025, to be applied to Medicare FFS claims with through dates in CY 2027.

HHAs will have received an CY 2026 APR if the HHA:

• Was Medicare-certified prior to January 1, 2024, and
• Had sufficient data for at least five (5) measures to generate a TPS, and
• Had a prior year payment amount.

The CY 2026 APR is the first APR in the expanded HHVBP Model that uses the CY 2025 applicable measure set, which includes three (3) OASIS-based, two (2) claims-based, and five (5) HHCAHPS Survey-based measures:

OASIS-Based Measures:

• Improvement in Dyspnea (Dyspnea) – One-year measure
• Improvement in Management of Oral Medications (Oral Medications) – One-year measure
• Discharge Function Score (DC Function) – One-year measure

 Claims-Based Measures:

• Discharge to Community-Post Acute Care (DTC-PAC) – Two-year measure
• Home Health Within-Stay Potentially Preventable Hospitalizations (PPH) – One-year measure

HHCAHPS Survey-based Measures:

• Care of Patients (Professional Care) – One-year measure
• Communications between Providers and Patients (Communication) – One-year measure
• Specific Care Issues (Team Discussion) – One-year measure
• Overall Rating of Home Health Care (Overall Rating) – One-year measure
• Willingness to Recommend the Agency (Willingness to Recommend) – One-year measure

The following table outlines the performance periods for each measure category included in the APRs.

 Important to note that there are 3 versions of the APRs, a Preview APR, a Preliminary APR, and a Final APR with each new version replacing the prior version of the APR

1. The “Preliminary APRs” were published on October 1, 2026 and reflect any changes resulting from an approved recalculation request.
   • Once the “Preliminary APRs” are published on October 1, 2026, HHAs have 15 calendar days to submit a reconsideration request if they submitted a recalculation request and are not in agreement with the recalculation request decision. The deadline for submitting a reconsideration request for the CY 2026 APRs is October 16, 2026.
   • HHAs also have 7 calendar days to submit a request for administrator review if they submitted a reconsideration request and are not in agreement with the reconsideration request decision.
   • The deadline for submitting a request for Administrator review for the CY 2026 APRs is November 5, 2026.
2. CMS makes the “Final APRs” available after all recalculation requests, reconsideration requests, and requests for Administrator review are processed, and no later than 30 calendar days before the payment adjustment takes effect on January 1, 2027.

HHAs that submitted a recalculation request by September 4, 2026 received instructions on how to submit a reconsideration request as part of the email notifying them of the outcome of the recalculation request decision.

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