Starting with care delivered in 2026, inpatient psychiatric units will no longer have to tell Medicare whether they offered patients help with drinking or smoking.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services finalized the removal on July 29 in its annual payment rule for inpatient psychiatric facilities. Two measure sets are going: the Alcohol Use Brief Intervention Provided or Offered measure and its subset, known as SUB-2 and SUB-2a, and the Tobacco Use Treatment Provided or Offered at Discharge measure and its subset, TOB-3 and TOB-3a. According to the CMS fact sheet, the removal begins with the calendar year 2026 reporting period and the FY 2028 payment determination.
