CMS Emergency Clearance Notice for Home Health Review Choice

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published a Federal Register notice on November 2, 2026, requesting emergency clearance of a revised information collection for the Review Choice Demonstration for Home Health Services. The notice carries document number 2026-22297 and citation 91 FR 68960.

The collection is identified as CMS-10599, with the OMB control number shown as 0938-1311. CMS states that it is processing the revision under the emergency clearance process tied to the implementing regulations of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), the statute that governs how federal agencies collect information from the public.

Comments must be received by November 16, 2026. The notice appears at 91 FR 68960 through 68961, a two-page document.

At a glance

• The notice was published by the Department of Health and Human Services and CMS on November 2, 2026, as document 2026-22297 at 91 FR 68960.
• CMS is requesting emergency clearance of a revision to information collection CMS-10599 (0938-1311) for the Review Choice Demonstration for Home Health Services.
• The stated purpose is to expand the demonstration to California within a specified timeframe.
• The comment period closes November 16, 2026.
• CMS states that public harm is reasonably likely to occur if normal, non-emergency clearance procedures are followed.

What is an emergency clearance under the Paperwork Reduction Act?

The PRA generally requires federal agencies to publish notice in the Federal Register about each proposed information collection request (ICR) and to give the public an opportunity to comment before an agency collects information. The emergency clearance process is a separate route that an agency may invoke when it concludes that normal clearance procedures cannot be followed.

CMS states in this notice that it is requesting that the revision be processed under the emergency clearance process associated with the PRA’s implementing regulations. The notice also states that public harm is reasonably likely to occur if normal, non-emergency clearance procedures are followed.

Even in the emergency route, the notice invites public comment. CMS asks interested persons to send comments on its burden estimates or any other aspect of the ICR. The notice lists specific subjects for comment: the necessity and utility of the proposed collection for the proper performance of the agency’s functions, the accuracy of the estimated burden, ways to enhance the quality, utility and clarity of the information collected, and the use of automated collection techniques or other information technology to minimize the collection burden.

What is the Review Choice Demonstration for Home Health Services?

The Review Choice Demonstration (RCD) for Home Health Services is a CMS demonstration project, which is a time-limited test of a payment or review model rather than a permanent nationwide program. This notice concerns a revision to the information collection associated with that demonstration.

According to the notice abstract, CMS describes the purpose of the requested approval as ensuring that the RCD for Home Health Services is expanded to California within the specified timeframe. The notice does not state the length of the expansion period or the number of providers expected to participate in California.

CMS names California as the state affected by this particular expansion. The notice does not describe any change to the demonstration in other states.

What is established vs. what is alleged

The categories in this notice are regulatory and procedural, and the distinction matters for how the document should be read.

Established by the notice: CMS published document 2026-22297 on November 2, 2026, at 91 FR 68960. The document is classified as a Notice with the action line “Notice.” CMS is requesting emergency clearance of a revision to collection CMS-10599 (0938-1311). Comments are due November 16, 2026. The document is two pages in the Federal Register.

Asserted by CMS, not adjudicated: The notice’s statements about fraud are the agency’s own characterization of conditions in the traditional Medicare home health benefit in California. These are allegations made by an agency in support of an expedited procedural request. They are not findings of a court, a verdict, or an adjudicated determination against any named provider or individual.

Not stated in the document: The notice does not quantify the alleged fraud, does not name any provider, and does not estimate the dollar value of any improper payments. The abstract refers generally to waste of taxpayer money, loss of funds from the Medicare Trust Funds, payment for care never delivered, and beneficiaries potentially receiving non-medically necessary care.

Where the request stands procedurally

This is a notice of an information collection request, not a lawsuit and not a final rule. The document type in the Federal Register is Notice, with no rulemaking effective date listed.

The notice’s abstract defines the agency’s stated rationale: a delay in the California expansion would mean an extended period in which the public is harmed by the continuation of what CMS describes as significant fraud in the traditional Medicare home health benefit in California. That rationale is the basis CMS gives for seeking the emergency route rather than the ordinary PRA comment cycle.

No federal court proceeding is associated with this document in the source record. There is no case number, no docket, no MDL, no bellwether trial (a test case selected from a group of similar claims), and no judicial consolidation to report. The request is an administrative submission to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the executive branch office that reviews and approves federal information collections.

The comment period is the point of public participation in the record. CMS states that interested persons are invited to comment on the burden estimates and on other aspects of the ICR. The notice gives November 16, 2026 as the date by which comments must be received.

Key dates

• November 2, 2026: HHS and CMS publish document 2026-22297 at 91 FR 68960 through 68961, requesting emergency clearance of a revision to information collection CMS-10599 (0938-1311).
• November 16, 2026: Deadline by which comments must be received, as stated in the notice’s dates field.

What this does not establish

The notice does not establish that any provider or beneficiary committed fraud. The fraud language appears in CMS’s statement of reasons for expedited clearance, and CMS does not identify a provider, a claim, a dollar amount or a beneficiary population in the notice.

The notice does not establish that OMB has approved the collection. It records a request submitted to OMB, not an approval. The source record contains no OMB action or approval date.

The notice does not itself change the Medicare home health benefit. It concerns an information collection, and the abstract describes a demonstration expansion to California rather than a modification of coverage rules.

The notice does not create any claim, cause of action or remedy for any person. It is an administrative paperwork document.

Broader questions about how drug and device litigation records are structured, and about what regulatory notices do and do not decide, are covered in the site’s background pages on insulin pricing claims and Depo-Provera meningioma claims.

Frequently asked questions

What is the CMS emergency clearance notice published on November 2, 2026?

The CMS emergency clearance notice is document 2026-22297, published by the Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services at 91 FR 68960 on November 2, 2026. It requests emergency clearance of a revision to information collection CMS-10599 (0938-1311) for the Review Choice Demonstration for Home Health Services. Comments must be received by November 16, 2026.

Why is CMS asking for emergency clearance instead of the usual process?

CMS states that public harm is reasonably likely to occur if normal, non-emergency clearance procedures are followed. The agency says the approval is essential to expand the Review Choice Demonstration for Home Health Services to California within the specified timeframe. The document does not state the length of that timeframe or the number of providers affected.

Does the notice mean CMS has proven fraud in California home health?

No. The fraud language in document 2026-22297 is CMS’s own characterization of conditions supporting an expedited procedural request, and the notice names no provider and quantifies no amount. No court finding or adjudication appears in the document. The statements are agency allegations offered as reasons for the emergency route.

What did CMS ask the public to comment on?

CMS invited comment on the necessity and utility of the proposed information collection, the accuracy of the estimated burden, and ways to enhance the quality, utility and clarity of the information collected. It also asked about the use of automated collection techniques or other information technology to minimize the burden. Comments must be received by November 16, 2026.

Sources

1. Federal Register: “Emergency Clearance: Public Information Collection Requirements Submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB)” (link, accessed 2026-11-02)
2. Federal Register: “All Documents” (link, accessed 2026-11-02)
3. Federal Register: “Agencies” (link, accessed 2026-11-02)
4. Federal Register: “Documents of type Rule” (link, accessed 2026-11-02)
5. Federal Register: “Documents of type Notice” (link, accessed 2026-11-02)
6. Federal Register: “Documents of type Proposed Rule” (link, accessed 2026-11-02)