CMS Memo Addresses State Recovery after Federal Government Shutdown (SNF)

Yesterday, November 24, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released a memo: QSO-26-02-ALL Questions + Answers for State Recovery after the Federal Government Shutdown. It includes the steps necessary to recover from the shutdown as well as questions and answers CMS received after the shutdown ended. Key takeaways:

• All survey activities suspended during the shutdown have resumed with no restrictions.
• State Survey Agencies are to issue the CMS-2567’s that were held due to the shutdown by December 12, 2025. States may adjust the exit date to the date of compliance in the system to either the date of CMS-2567 issuance or the compliance date identified by the provider.
• For surveys that were in progress as the government shutdown began, survey agencies can continue the survey without starting over. However, surveyors may need to update resident sample information or conduct additional complaint investigations if complaints were alleged during the shutdown.

Our national association, AHCA, is doing a deep dive into the memo and communicating with CMS on recovery activities. HCAM will share more detailed information as it becomes available.