In early April 2026, a notice was sent from CMS to each MAC regarding the April 30th, 2026, release of the final FY 2027 wage index data PUFs.
May 29th, 2026, is the 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 on April 30, 2026, PUF.
Knowing this, 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 review, and to inform hospitals that this will be their last opportunity to request corrections to errors in the final data.
Changes to the data will be limited to situations involving errors by CMS or the MAC that the hospital could not have known about before the review of the final April PUFs. Basically, what was submitted and later approved is locked in, and changes are limited to certain parameters.
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 3, 2026 (i.e., March 21, 2026), and at least 14 calendar days prior to May 29, 2026 (i.e., May 15, 2026), 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 29, 2026 (i.e., May 16, 2026) 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 the Medicare Electronic Application Request Information System (MEARIS) for this dispute.
Hospitals must submit corrections, along with all supporting documentation, for the FY 2027 wage index cycle via the Wage Index Appeals (WIA) module in the MEARIS at https://mearis.cms.gov.
Another upcoming deadline to keep in mind is the FY 2027 geographic reclassification deadline to withdraw an application or terminate an approved 3 – year MGCRB reclassification (it must be received by the MGCRB, with a copy to CMS at wageindex@cms.hhs.gov, within 45 days from the date NPRM is issued). That deadline has not yet been announced.
Contact Us
Reach out to your local Blue & Co. Advisor or contact one of our experts listed below if your organization needs more information about the Wage Index Survey or Wage Index Correction and Revision deadlines.
Kyle Smith, CPA, 340B ACE, Director
Austin Fisher, CPA, Senior Manager
Sources:
FY 2027 Hospital Wage Index Development Timetable, www.cms.gov/files/document/fy-2027-hospital-wage-index-development-time-table.pdf. Accessed 20 Mar. 2026.
“Wage Index.” CMS.Gov, www.cms.gov/medicare/payment/prospective-payment-systems/acute-inpatient-pps/wage-index. Accessed 20 Mar. 2026.
