Message from the Chair | January 2026
Happy New Year to everyone. The holidays are over and we are starting off on new adventures in 2026.
For those of you who may not have heard, CAHSAH has two new staff members who joined the team in December: Tanya Bautista and Tricia Smith. Tanya joins the CAHSAH team as our Director of Policy, Advocacy and Public Affairs. Tanya comes to CAHSAH with a wealth of experience including leadership roles with the California Department of Aging and the California Department of Social Services. Tanya will be focusing on policy and regulatory issues that are important to all CAHSAH members. In addition, she will address payment and reimbursement issues. And please welcome Tricia Smith as the CAHSAH Director of Membership. Tricia is returning to CAHSAH. She was a previous CAHSAH member and served on the CAHSAH Board of Directors and on several committees. Tricia will focus on expanding the CAHSAH membership and working to ensure that CAHSAH members are accessing all available membership benefits. So welcome to both Tricia and Tanya. We are so very excited to have you onboard.
January also will see CMS bringing major changes to Home Health. The Home Health Final Rule goes into effect January 1st. Per CMS, this rule finalizes routine, statutorily required updates to the HH payment rates for CY 2026. As a result of the provisions found in the final rule, CMS estimates that, overall, Medicare payments to home health agencies in 2026 will decrease by an estimated 1.3%. In addition, CMS is finalizing Patient-Driven Groupings Model (PDGM) case-mix weights and updating low-utilization payment adjustment (LUPA) thresholds, along with updating functional impairment levels, and comorbidity adjustment subgroups for CY 2026. The final rule also finalizes changes to the face-to-face encounter policy. Basically, the Final Rule is making significant changes that CAHSAH members need to be aware of. For further details please refer to the December CAHSAH Bulletin and upcoming CAHSAH presentations.
CAHSAH is your partner for all the changes in 2026. The CAHSAH Board of Directors has taken the challenges to heart and will be holding a retreat with CAHSAH staff in early January. During the retreat, the Board will develop strategic plans to help our members in this new year to meet the upcoming challenges. Look for the results the strategic planning.
And have a Happy New Year in 2026!!!