CMS Proposes 2.8% Increase State FY2026 Budget Update CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz Lists Agenda Priorities

Our upcoming important programs include: Navigating Immigration Changes: What Employers Need to Know; Navigating the Latest CMS Revisions to Appendix PP and Surveyor Guidance; and the Back to Basics: Infection Control 101 Webinar Series

Join us as we gather for our 2025 Spring Conference & Trade Show on Wednesday, May 14th at the DCU Center in Worcester! In addition to learning from dynamic speakers addressing issues impacting long term care providers, over 50 sponsors and exhibitors will be at the Trade Show and Luncheon to share the latest products and services, giving you the opportunity to network with these vendors and your colleagues.

CMS has posted the draft Minimum Data Set (MDS) 3.0 Resident Assessment Instrument (RAI) User’s Manual version (v)1.20.1​, which will be effective beginning October 01, 2025.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on April 4th issued its Contract Year (CY) 2026 Medicare Advantage (MA) and Part D rule. The final rule does not include provisions that would have increased guardrails on the use of artificial intelligence and prevent automatic denials of basic benefits without individual assessments, as contained in the proposed rule issued at the end of the Biden Administration last November.

U.S. Senate Republicans voted last week, on a 51-48 party line vote, to pass a budget resolution to advance President Trump’s legislative agenda which includes increased spending for border security and defense spending, and extending the 2017 tax cuts that are set to expire this year.

President Trump yesterday dramatically reversed course and announced a 90-day pause in the higher reciprocal tariffs he announced last week, dropping his country-specific tariffs down to a universal 10% rate for all trade partners except China which will increase to 125 percent. This tariff level will remain in effect through July 8th while the United States and its trading partners seek to reach a permanent agreement on tariff levels.

On Monday, the Joint Committee on Ways and Means held its 7th hearing to review Governor Healey’s state Fiscal Year 2026 H.1 budget recommendation, focusing on the Executive Office of Health and Human Services (EOHHS) department budgets, including MassHealth.

At the recent National Association of Activity Professionals (NAAP) annual conference in Dallas, TX, Sandy Sarza was awarded a Quality of Excellence award for her dedicated service as President of the Massachusetts Council of Activity Professionals (MassCAP), a NAAP state affiliate. Sandy has dedicated her career to long term care and currently serves as the Administrator at Sarah Brayton Nursing Center in Fall River.