What You Need to Know About the Home Health Stabilization Act—and How You Can Help
Recent proposed cuts to Medicare reimbursements threaten to destabilize access for patients who rely on in-home care. In response, Representatives Kevin Hern (OK-01) and Terri Sewell (AL-07) have introduced the Home Health Stabilization Act of 2025 (H.R. 5142), a bipartisan effort to pause scheduled reimbursement reductions and give policymakers time to design more sustainable payment models.
October 13, 2025
3 min. read

Home health agencies are under immense pressure. Recent proposed cuts to Medicare reimbursements threaten to destabilize access for patients who rely on in-home care. In response, Representatives Kevin Hern (OK-01) and Terri Sewell (AL-07) have introduced the Home Health Stabilization Act of 2025 (H.R. 5142), a bipartisan effort to pause scheduled reimbursement reductions and give policymakers time to design more sustainable payment models.
Background
On June 30, 2025, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released its CY 2026 Home Health Proposed Rule, which included updates to reimbursement and policy changes affecting home health agencies starting January 1, 2026.
For the fourth year in a row, CMS has targeted home health organizations for a reimbursement reduction. Last year, CMS also proposed a reduction, which was partially mitigated in the final rule after extensive public outreach and a legislative campaign. This year, a 6.4 percent reduction is proposed, a decrease of $1.135 billion in payments compared with CY 2025—the largest cut ever proposed.
What the Bill Does
At its core, H.R. 5142 would amend Title XVIII of the Social Security Act to deliver a temporary reprieve for home health providers. Specifically:
For calendar years 2026 and 2027, Medicare would apply a positive adjustment to offset proposed payment reductions—a −4.059 percent “Permanent Adjustment Factor” and a −5.0 percent “Temporary Adjustment Factor” scheduled in the 2026 home health rule.
It mandates that the standard national 30-day payment rate be held based on the 2025 rate (plus the offset adjustment), and that further negative adjustments not be applied under certain clauses for those two years.
In short: H.R. 5142 seeks to pause cuts and stabilize provider finances while Congress and stakeholders revisit broader reforms.
What You Can Do
The stakes are high.
The proposed 2026 rule from CMS threatens a roughly 9 percent reduction in Medicare home health payments, amounting to over $1.1 billion in cuts in a single year. Many providers—already operating under tight margins—cannot absorb such losses.
For home health providers, H.R. 5142 could mean the difference between staying open and shuttering their doors. It offers breathing space to manage staffing, overhead, and financial planning in a volatile environment. For patients—especially older adults, those with disabilities, and rural populations—it offers protection from sudden loss of care.
So what can you do to help? Make your voice heard! Reach out to your lawmaker and ask them for their support, and be sure to follow Medbridge on Facebook and LinkedIn for more regulatory updates.