Policy & oversight
CMS Proposes That Medicare's Home Health Benefit May Now Cover Skilled Palliative Care Services
A proposed rule published July 6, 2026 would clarify that Medicare can pay home health agencies for skilled palliative care visits for seriously ill homebound patients, without requiring those patients to give up treatment. Comments close August 31.
By the Goodsurance editorial teamAugust 24, 2026
Palliative care focuses on pain and symptom management for people living with serious illness. Unlike hospice, it does not require a patient to stop pursuing treatment aimed at curing or slowing the disease. Until now, Medicare had not explicitly stated whether skilled palliative care services qualify for coverage under the home health benefit.
A proposed rule published July 6, 2026 (CMS-1844-P) would resolve that ambiguity. Under the proposal, a home health agency could furnish and bill skilled palliative care visits as a covered Medicare home health service. CMS would add palliative care examples to its guidance on skilled nursing and therapy, and plans to issue additional specifics through sub-regulatory guidance after a final rule is published.
CMS proposes that Medicare's home health benefit can now cover skilled palliative care for seriously ill patients, without requiring them to stop treatment.
To qualify, a patient would still need to meet the existing Medicare home health eligibility criteria: be considered homebound and need skilled nursing, physical or occupational therapy, speech-language pathology, or medical social work services. CMS is not creating a separate palliative care benefit. It is clarifying that symptom management and pain control by a skilled clinician in the home may count as skilled care under the existing benefit.
Palliative care advocates called the proposal an important step forward while noting that the homebound requirement limits its reach. Patients with advanced cancer, heart failure, serious lung disease, or other life-limiting conditions who already receive Medicare home health services may be the primary beneficiaries.
Public comments on CMS-1844-P are due August 31, 2026, at regulations.gov.
In plain words
Palliative care is medical help that focuses on managing pain and symptoms for people who are seriously ill. It is not the same as hospice. With palliative care, patients can still receive treatments to fight their illness.
Until now, Medicare had not clearly said whether it would pay for palliative care visits through the home health benefit. A proposed rule from July 2026 would change that. If the rule becomes final, Medicare home health agencies could bill for skilled palliative care visits when a patient at home needs pain or symptom management from a nurse or therapist.
The patient would still need to meet the normal Medicare home health requirements, including being considered homebound and needing skilled care.
People with serious conditions like cancer, heart failure, or serious lung disease who already receive Medicare home health services may benefit most from this change.
Comments on this proposal are due August 31, 2026.
Understand the basics first
Source: CMS
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