CMS’s October 2026 Home Health PPS Grouper release, version 07.2.26, applies to claims starting October 1. CMS says the interface and core logic did not change—but the diagnosis tables that drive clinical grouping and HIPPS assignment did. The update adds and deletes codes, revises descriptions, and changes unacceptable principal, unspecified and Code First classifications.

DomAfina’s take: “no interface change” is not “no billing risk.” Confirm your software loaded the correct grouper, then test real October starts of care against known cases. Build an exception queue for diagnoses that no longer group, now fail as principal, or require sequencing. Compare the expected clinical group and HIPPS code before the claim leaves the organization, and record the grouper version beside the result. A quiet table change can still become a noisy denial.

Source reviewed: CMS: Home Health PPS Grouper Software (HHGS). The source supports the reported update; the operational recommendations are DomAfina’s analysis.