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DocumentsAgency rules › 2026-10050

Health and Human Services Department, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Office of the Secretary

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, HHS Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters for 2027; and Basic Health Program

Published May 20, 2026. Takes effect July 20, 2026. printed at 91 FR 29526. amending 42 CFR 600, 45 CFR 150, 45 CFR 155, 45 CFR 156.

In plain English

This changes how the health law is carried out. It covers plans sold to the public.

Read it at the Federal Register →

What the Rule Says It Does

This final rule contains provisions to improve implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, including payment parameters and provisions related to the HHS-operated risk adjustment and risk adjustment data validation (HHS-RADV) programs, as well as 2027 user fee rates for issuers offering qualified health plans (QHPs) through Federally-facilitated Exchanges (FFEs) and State-based Exchanges on the Federal platform (SBE-FPs). This final rule also includes provisions related to civil money penalties (CMPs) for noncompliant issuers and other responsible entities; standards governing agents, brokers, and web-brokers; the expansion and codification of hardship exemption eligibility; implementation of the State Exchange Improper Payment Measurement (SEIPM); provider access standards and essential community provider standards for QHP certification; QHP certification of non-network plans; a prohibition on issuers from including routine non-pediatric dental services as an Essential Health Benefit (EHB); requirements related to defrayal for the cost of any State-required benefits in addition to the EHB; cost- sharing flexibilities for catastrophic and individual market bronze plans; establishment of catastrophic plans with plan terms of up to 10 consecutive plan years; QHP issuer quality improvement strategies (QISs); and revisions affecting which enrollees are included in Federal Basic Health Program (BHP) payment calculations to States. This final rule also includes amendments to implement certain provisions of the Working Families Tax Cut (WFTC) legislation.

This is the rule's own summary, as the Federal Register prints it.

The Order It Names

The rule names this order itself. What it does about it is a reading, and none is recorded here.

How to cite this
  1. The rule itself

    Health and Human Services Department, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Office of the Secretary, “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, HHS Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters for 2027; and Basic Health Program,” 91 FR 29526 (May 20, 2026). Effective July 20, 2026.
    https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/05/20/2026-10050/patient-protection-and-affordable-care-act-hhs-notice-of-benefit-and-payment-parameters-for-2027-and

  2. This page

    “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, HHS Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters for 2027; and Basic Health Program,” a final rule naming an order indexed here. Read the Mandate, https://readthemandate.org/rules/rule-2026-10050/ (retrieved August 26, 2026).

Cite the document when the claim is about what the document says. Cite this page when the indexing, the wording or the record of what has happened is what is being relied on.

How This Rule Is Quoted

Federal Register documents are United States government works and are not under copyright. The summary is quoted as printed and the rule itself is one click away, because an index is not a mirror.