Becker's Healthcare January 20, 2026
CMS’ decision to phase out the Medicare Inpatient Only list in 2026 marks a consequential site-of-service policy that could rapidly accelerate the migration of complex procedures to outpatient settings while introducing new risks around safety, access and payer behavior.
Under the plan, CMS will eliminate the IPO list over three years, ending a longstanding policy that restricted Medicare reimbursement for certain complex procedures to inpatient hospitals. The move represents a sharp departure from CMS’ historical, incremental approach to site-of-service changes, according to a Jan. 14 JAMA Surgery article that warns the policy could outpace the healthcare system’s readiness.
For decades, the IPO list functioned as a safety guardrail, ensuring that the most complex and highest-risk procedures were performed in inpatient...
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