Dive Brief:

The CMS on Thursday finalized a 2.6% payment increase for inpatient hospitals in 2026, higher than what regulators originally proposed earlier this year.

Hospital payments will now rise by about $5 billion in 2026 — $1 billion more than what was originally proposed under a 2.4% payment increase in April.

Medicare also finalized changes to quality reporting, including removing COVID-19 vaccination requirements for healthcare workers and a mandatory payment model starting in January.

Dive Insight:

The inpatient pay raise reflects a market basket increase of 3.3%, reduced by a 0.7 percentage point productivity adjustment, according to a CMS fact sheet on the final rule.

The rule also includes higher payments to disproportionate share hospitals for uncompensated care in

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