LeadingAge National Government News: April 16, 2025

The Administration has put forth numerous executive orders and corresponding opportunities to comment on potential places to reduce and rescind regulations – some of which were put out on April 9 and 11 but track back to executive orders from January and February.  LeadingAge is reviewing the opportunities and will be sure to use the available avenues to make our priorities clear.  

LeadingAge Kansas is seeking feedback from members on which regulations you would like to see rescinded.  

Now live, the LeadingAge Rural Provider Network, the newest of LeadingAge’s member networks, is designed to address the unique challenges facing aging services organizations serving older adults in rural areas. This network, which meets the third Wednesday of every other month at 2:00 PM CT, is a forum for members to share information and discuss best practices and challenges–from staffing shortages to geographic isolation and limited resources–in delivering health care to older adults in rural communities. Like all of the member networks, participation allows you to enjoy one of LeadingAge’s most-valued benefits: members learning from members. 

The next call is Wednesday, April 16 at 2:00 PM CT. We’ll be spending time getting to know our network members and hearing more about their current challenges and recent successes. Sign up for the network today and start connecting with other rural communities nationwide.  

Questions? Please contact Amanda Marr. 

On April 11, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released the Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 skilled nursing facility prospective payment system proposed rule for public inspection. The proposal, entitled FY 2026 Skilled Nursing Facility (SNFs) Prospective Payment System and Consolidated Billing and Updates to the Value-Based Purchasing and Quality Reporting Programs, will be formally published in the Federal Register on April 30, and CMS will accept public comments through June 10. For FY 2026 CMS proposes increasing rates by 2.8%, which is notably lower than the 4.2% increase finalized for FY 2025.  

CMS is proposing updates to the requirements for the SNF Quality Reporting Program by removing four standardized patient assessment data elements under the social determinants of health category and proposing to amend the agency’s reconsideration policy and process. CMS also proposes updates to the SNF Value-Based Purchasing Program, including removing the Health Equity Adjustment, estimating performance standards, applying the Program’s scoring methodology to the Skilled Nursing Facility Within-Stay Potentially Preventable Readmission measure, adopting a new reconsideration process that will allow SNFs to appeal CMS’s decisions on review and correction requests, and technical updates to the SNF VBP Program’s regulation text. A Fact Sheet summarizing the proposals is available here, and a link to the proposal is available here. LeadingAge will provide more in-depth analysis in the coming days. 

The revisions to Appendix PP Guidance to Surveyors for Long-Term Care Facilities will be implemented on April 28, 2025. LeadingAge has created quick reference guides for an overview of changes in four key areas: Admissions Policy, Assessment and Diagnosis, Transfer and Discharge, and Unnecessary Medications. These guides highlight the main takeaways for each topic, impacted F-tags and relevant Critical Element Pathways, tips for what you can do to work toward compliance, and provide answers to the most frequently asked questions from our members. The resources are available on the RoPs Tools and Resources page on the LeadingAge website and require a LeadingAge login to access. 

As the May 1 compliance date draws near, LeadingAge has received an increase in questions about the process. We have compiled a quick reference guide here to the available resources from CMS. We also encourage members to check out the recording of our February 11 webinar Understanding the New Off-Cycle Nursing Facility Revalidations.