Fiscal Year 2026

Access the below related information from this webpage.

FY 2026 Hospital Wage Index Development Timetable (May 2024 through October 2025)

All deadlines are at 11:59 EST, per the FY 2021 IPPS/LTCH PPS Final Rule (85 FR 58792)

Date: What Happens:
May 23, 2024 Release of preliminary FY 2026 unaudited FY 2022 Worksheet S-3 wage data file (cost reports with a begin date on or after 10/01/2021 and before 10/01/2022) on CMS website. The FY 2022 wage data file includes Worksheet S-3 wage data from cost reports submitted to HCRIS through approximately May 20, 2024. Notice sent from CMS to MACs regarding the September 3, 2024, deadline for hospitals to request revisions to the wage index and occupational mix data as reflected in the preliminary files. Notice must be forwarded by the MACs to hospitals they service to alert hospitals to the availability of the preliminary wage data file for their review and to inform hospitals of their opportunity to request revisions.
September 3, 2024 Deadline for hospitals to request revisions to their Worksheet S-3 wage data and CY 2023 occupational mix data as included in the wage and occ mix preliminary PUFs, and to provide documentation to support the request. MACs must receive the revision requests and supporting documentation by this date. MACs will have approximately 10 weeks to complete their reviews, make determinations, and transmit revised data to CMS’s Division of Acute Care (DAC).
November 1, 2024 Deadline for MACs to notify State hospital associations regarding hospitals that fail to respond to issues raised during the desk reviews. The purpose of the letter is to inform the State association and its member hospitals that a hospital’s failure to respond to matters raised by the MAC can result in lowering an area’s wage index value and, therefore, lower Medicare payments for all hospitals in the area.
November 15, 2024 Deadline for MACs to complete all desk reviews for hospital wage data and transmit revised Worksheet S-3 wage data and occupational mix data to DAC. Worksheet S-3 wage data must be sent to DAC in electronic format (HCRIS hdt format). Occupational mix data must be sent to DAC on the Excel spreadsheet provided by DAC for specific use by MACs
January 31, 2025 Release of revised FY 2026 wage index and occupational mix files as PUFs on the CMS Web site. These data will have been desk reviewed and verified by the MACs before being issued. Also, a file including each urban and rural area’s average hourly wages for the FYs 2025 (final) and 2026 (preliminary) wage indexes will be provided on the CMS Web site.
February 18, 2025

Deadline for hospitals to submit requests (including supporting documentation) for:

  1. Corrections to errors in the January PUFs (wage index S-3 wage data and occupational mix) due to CMS or MAC mishandling of the wage index data, or
  2. Revisions of desk review adjustments to their wage index and occupational mix data) as included in the January PUFs (and to provide documentation to support the request).

MACs must receive the requests and supporting documentation by this date. No new requests for wage index and occupational mix data revisions will be accepted by the MACs at this point, as it is too late in the process for MACs to handle data that is new in a timely manner.
March 21, 2025

Deadline for the following:

  1. MACs to transmit final revised wage index data (in HCRIS hdt format) to DAC for inclusion in the final wage index. Worksheet S-3 wage data must be transmitted in HCRIS hdt format. Occupational mix data must be sent to DAC on the electronic Excel spreadsheet provided by DAC for specific use by MACs. All wage index data revisions must be transmitted to DAC by this date.
  2. MACs must also send written notification to hospitals regarding the status of the hospitals’ February 18, 2025 correction/revision request(s) by this date.
April 4, 2025 Deadline for hospitals to appeal MAC determinations and request CMS’ intervention in cases where the hospital disagrees with the MAC’s determination. It should be noted that during this review, CMS does not consider issues such as the adequacy of a hospital’s supporting documentation, as CMS believes that the MACs are generally in the best position to make evaluations regarding the appropriateness of these types of issues (which should have been resolved earlier in the process). The request must include all correspondence between the hospital and MAC that documents the hospital’s attempt to resolve the dispute earlier in the process. Data that was incorrect in the preliminary or January wage index data PUFs, but for which no correction request was received by the February 18, 2025 deadline, will not be considered for correction at this stage.

Hospitals must submit appeals with all supporting documentation for the FY 2026 wage index cycle via the Wage Index Appeals (WIA) module in the Medicare Electronic Application Request Information System (MEARIS) at https://mearis.cms.gov. To ensure compatibility with MEARIS, supporting documentation shall preferably be PDF or Word files and spreadsheets shall be in Excel. Note: These appeals for FY 2026 will NOT be accepted via email.
April 4, 2025 Deadline for hospitals to dispute data corrections made by CMS of which the hospital is notified after the January 31, 2025 PUF and at least 14 calendar days prior to April 4, 2025 (i.e., March 21, 2025), that do not arise from a hospital’s request for revisions. CMS and the MACs must receive requests with complete documentation by this date.

Hospitals must submit appeals with all supporting documentation for the FY 2026 wage index cycle via the Wage Index Appeals (WIA) module in the Medicare Electronic Application Request Information System (MEARIS) at https://mearis.cms.gov. To ensure compatibility with MEARIS, supporting documentation shall preferably be PDF or Word files and spreadsheets shall be in Excel. Note: These appeals for FY 2026 will NOT be accepted via email.
April/May 2025 Approximate date proposed rule will be issued; includes proposed wage index, which is calculated generally based on the wage index data included in the January PUF. Therefore, the wage data in the proposed rule does not reflect the updated wage data that CMS received after the January PUF. For geographic reclassification deadlines based on the issuance of the proposed rule, see FY 2026 Wage Index Home Page.
April 2025 Notice sent from CMS to each MAC regarding the April 30, 2025, release of the final FY 2026 wage index data PUFs and the May 30, 2025, deadline for hospitals to request corrections to the wage and occupational mix data as reflected in the final files.

Notice must be forwarded by MACs to hospitals they service to alert hospitals to the availability of the final wage index and occupational mix data files for their review in the April 30, 2025 PUF, and to inform hospitals that this will be their last opportunity to request corrections to errors in the final data. Changes to data will be limited to situations involving errors by CMS or the MAC that the hospital could not have known about before review of the final April PUFs. Data that was incorrect in the preliminary or January wage index data PUFs, but for which no correction request was received by the February 18, 2025 deadline, will not be considered for correction at this stage.
April 30, 2025 Release of final FY 2026 wage index and occupational mix data PUFs on CMS Web page. Hospitals will have approximately 1 month to verify their data and submit correction requests to both CMS and their MAC to correct errors due to CMS or MAC mishandling of the final wage and occupational mix data.
May 30, 2025 Deadline for hospitals to submit correction requests to both CMS and their MAC to correct errors due to CMS or MAC mishandling of the final wage and occupational mix data as posted in the April 30, 2025 PUF. Changes to data will be limited to situations involving errors by CMS or the MAC that the hospital could not have known about before review of the final April PUFs. CMS and the MACs must receive all requests by this date.

Hospitals must submit corrections with all supporting documentation for the FY 2026 wage index cycle via the Wage Index Appeals (WIA) module in the Medicare Electronic Application Request Information System (MEARIS) at https://mearis.cms.gov. To ensure compatibility with MEARIS, supporting documentation shall preferably be PDF or Word files and spreadsheets shall be in Excel. Note: These appeals for FY 2026 will NOT be accepted via email.

NOTE: CMS emphasizes that data that were incorrect in the preliminary or January wage index data PUFs, but for which no correction request was received by the February 18, 2025, deadline, will not be changed at this stage for inclusion in the wage index. In general, a hospital disputing an adjustment is required to request a correction by the first applicable deadline; hospitals that do not meet the procedural deadlines set forth earlier will not be permitted to challenge later, before the PRRB, the failure of CMS to make a requested data revision. Each correction request must include all information and supporting documentation needed for CMS and the MAC to determine whether or not the hospital’s request meets the criteria for a correction to their data at this point in the wage index development. The MACs and DAC will review each request upon receipt and consult to determine whether or not the request qualifies for correction of the final wage or occupational mix data.
May 30, 2025 Deadline for hospitals to dispute data corrections made by CMS of which the hospital is notified on or after 13 calendar days prior to April 4, 2025 (i.e., March 22, 2025), and at least 14 calendar days prior to May 30, 2025 (i.e., May 16, 2025), that do not arise from a hospital’s request for revisions. (Data corrections made by CMS of which a hospital is notified on or after 13 calendar days prior to May 30, 2025 (i.e., May 17, 2025) may be appealed to the Provider Reimbursement Review Board (PRRB)). CMS and the MACs must receive requests with complete documentation by this date via email wageindexreview@cms.hhs.gov. Do NOT submit a request via MEARIS for this dispute.
August 1, 2025 Approximate date of issuance of the FY 2026 final rule; wage index includes final wage index data corrections
October 1, 2025 Effective date of FY 2026 wage index.

Preliminary Wage Index PUF

FY 2026 Preliminary Wage Index PUF – (Zip File)
Contains the FY 2026 preliminary Worksheet S-3 wage data from FY 2022 cost reports and the Calendar Year 2022 occupational mix survey data. See description tab for complete details.

If you have any questions regarding Wage Index, contact us at JF-WageIndex@noridian.com

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