> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://members.americanhealthintel.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Home-based care M&A craters 41% in Q2 2026 as fraud crackdown bites - URL: https://members.americanhealthintel.com/2026-07-24-serviceline/ - Published: 2026-07-24T21:07:42.000Z - Updated: 2026-07-24T21:07:42.000Z - Description: Plus: CY2027 home health rule hides a temporary 3% PDGM clawback behind a 2.4% raise. The day's rules, money, and enforcement, sourced and tiered below. - Author: American Health Intel Plus: CY2027 home health rule hides a temporary 3% PDGM clawback behind a 2.4% raise. The day's rules, money, and enforcement, sourced and tiered below. | American Health Intel Rules · Money · Medicine · Decoded daily The Service Line Friday, July 24, 2026 Home-based care M&A craters 41% in Q2 2026 as fraud crackdown bites Plus: CY2027 home health rule hides a temporary 3% PDGM clawback behind a 2.4% raise. The day's rules, money, and enforcement, sourced and tiered below. ![](https://americanhealthintel.com/email/pulse-divider.png) Report Confidence: High Home health and hospice mergers, the deals where companies buy or combine with each other, cratered in Q2 2026: just 16 closed, down 41% from Q1's 27 and 45% from a year earlier. Deal advisory firm Mertz Taggart blames the fraud takedowns, the hospice 36-month ownership rule, and the new Medicare enrollment moratorium for making deals harder to close. Why it matters Fewer deals closing means less consolidation and slower change in who owns your local home health or hospice agency right now. Sources: [Homecaremag](https://www.homecaremag.com/news/home-based-care-ma-volume-drops-q2-2026?ref=members.americanhealthintel.com) Rule Confidence: High The home health payment agency CMS proposed a 2027 pay rule that raises rates 2.4% on paper, but buries a temporary 3% clawback for what it calls billions in past overpayments. CMS wants to recoup an estimated $4.9 billion in cumulative overpayments from CY2020-2025, but for the first time since CY2022 it dropped the permanent behavioral pay cut. Comments due Aug 31, 2026. Why it matters Watch whether the temporary 3% clawback survives to the final rule, since it would offset most of the headline payment increase for home health agencies. Sources: [Federal Register](https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/07/06/2026-13602/calendar-year-2027-home-health-prospective-payment-system-hh-pps-rate-update-requirements-for-the-hh?ref=members.americanhealthintel.com) · [Hklaw](https://www.hklaw.com/en/insights/publications/2026/07/cms-issues-far-reaching-calendar-year-2027?ref=members.americanhealthintel.com) · [Allianceforcareathome](https://allianceforcareathome.org/the-alliance-responds-to-the-cy-2027-home-health-proposed-rule/?ref=members.americanhealthintel.com) Also today CMS commits to 60 days notice before extending hospice/home health enrollment freeze [Read](https://americanhealthintel.com/editions/2026-07-24-serviceline/?utm%5Fsource=newsletter&utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fcampaign=edition#hh-hospice-enrollment-moratorium-60-day-notice) General Atlantic, Kinderhook, and Deacon Associates lead Q2's biggest home-based care deals [Read](https://americanhealthintel.com/editions/2026-07-24-serviceline/?utm%5Fsource=newsletter&utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fcampaign=edition#q2-2026-homebased-care-buyers) Hospices get FY2027 payment-penalty letters over 2025 HOPE tool compliance [Read](https://americanhealthintel.com/editions/2026-07-24-serviceline/?utm%5Fsource=newsletter&utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fcampaign=edition#hope-tool-fy2027-apu-noncompliance-letters) 19.1%: the national hospice live-discharge rate operators should be tracking [Read](https://americanhealthintel.com/editions/2026-07-24-serviceline/?utm%5Fsource=newsletter&utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fcampaign=edition#hospice-live-discharge-rate-operator-metric) 239Records$16.5BEnforcement9Deadlines79Rules [Read this issue + the trackers](https://americanhealthintel.com/editions/2026-07-24-serviceline/?utm%5Fsource=newsletter&utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fcampaign=edition) Pick your field on the site and every story tells you what it means for you. 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