CMS Proposes Rolling Back Medicare, Medicaid Facility Requirements
On Nov. 5, 2026, CMS issued the CARE proposed rule revising Conditions of Participation and related requirements for Medicare- and Medicaid-participating providers across 21 provider and supplier types. The rule would remove staff training requirements for OB care, emergency readiness, and transfer protocols at hospitals and critical access hospitals; streamline COVID-19 vaccine and reporting requirements at long-term care facilities, ICFs/IID, and rural emergency hospitals; update physical environment and fire safety codes; and add new patient-rights requirements for birth tissue collection by hospitals and CAHs offering OB care. It also proposes rescinding Medicaid institutional payment transparency reporting requirements that track the share of nursing facility and ICF/IID payments spent on direct care worker and support staff compensation. CMS estimates the proposals would save $320 million and return more than 3.26 million staff hours, and the rule includes comment solicitations for stakeholder input.