Comment on CMS-2026-1256-0002

Summary: America's Essential Hospitals, an association representing hospitals serving low-income and rural populations, opposes several aspects of the proposed rule that they believe will disproportionately harm safety-net providers. They specifically argue against mandatory participation in the CJR-X model, advocate for a formal federal designation for essential hospitals to target funding, and request higher payment updates to account for rising inflation and uncompensated care costs.