As part of a wider initiative established to combat health care fraud, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced on Feb. 25, 2026, a six-month nationwide moratorium on new enrollment for certain durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics, and supplies (DMEPOS) suppliers. CMS bases this moratorium on its belief of significant fraud, waste, and abuse involving DMEPOS suppliers. Over the next six months, CMS will no longer accept new DMEPOS enrollment applications for the following medical supply companies with:
- orthotics personnel;
- pedorthic personnel;
- prosthetics personnel;
- prosthetic and orthotic personnel;
- registered pharmacists; and
- respiratory therapists.
This moratorium will not affect existing enrolled DMEPOS suppliers and providers. Those entities and individuals may continue to participate in Medicare, submit claims for covered services, and make certain changes to their enrollment information. For those with pending new enrollment applications, the mortarium will not apply so long as the Medicare contractor has received the application prior to the moratorium date.
The moratorium may impact DMEPOS suppliers undergoing changes in ownership. As part of the 2026 Home Health Prospective Payment System final rule, CMS expanded the so called "36-Month Rule" to cover DMEPOS suppliers, aligning them with home health agencies and hospices. Under the 36-Month Rule, any DMEPOS supplier undergoing a "change in majority ownership" within 36 months after the effective date of its initial Medicare enrollment or within 36 months of its most recent "change in majority ownership" must submit a new enrollment application. A "change of majority interest," for purposes of the 36-Month Rule, occurs when an individual or organization acquires more than a 50% direct ownership interest in a DMEPOS supplier, which can be through an asset sale, stock transfer, merger, consolidation, or a combination of such.
Because of the moratorium, DMEPOS suppliers undergoing a subsequent change in majority ownership will not be able to enroll in Medicare if the DMEPOS supplier newly enrolled within 36 months or had a direct ownership change within 36 months. In other words, transactions implicating the 36-Month Rule may be prohibited under the moratorium. Other changes in information or ownership will not be impacted.
CMS may extend the moratorium for an additional six months at the end of its initial period. Upon completion, CMS will announce the lifting of the moratorium in the Federal Register.
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