Measured Innovation: How CMS’s CY2026 Fee Schedule Signals a New Era for Digital Health Policy

Elizaveta Bannova, Billing specialist at WCH, Educational officer at AAPC 

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has released its proposed Calendar Year 2026 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (PFS), marking the first major healthcare policy statement from the second Trump administration. The rule reveals a nuanced approach to digital health technologies, balancing innovation with measured implementation—a departure from both the aggressive expansion during the COVID-19 pandemic and the more restrictive policies that followed. 

A New Digital Health Philosophy Emerges