After four consecutive years of decline, home health and hospice dealmaking is gaining momentum — and the proposed CY2027 home health rule and the Medicare enrollment moratoria could propel activity even higher through 2027.
Home health and hospice dealmaking could spike not only in volume, but also in valuation, according to a recent report from the Braff Group.
“From an M&A perspective, the second quarter of 2026 has set the table for a strong period of dealmaking in home health and hospice over the next 12 months,” the report’s authors wrote.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based Braff Group is an M&A advisory firm for home health, hospice and other healthcare sectors.
The Braff Group’s report analyzed data collected from the first half of 2026. The firm’s annualized first-half data point to 134 transactions across certified home health, hospice, private duty and Medicaid categories in 2026, an increase of 12.6% compared to 119 in 2025.
On an annualized basis through the second quarter, certified home health was on pace for 48 deals in 2026 — up 41% compared to 2025. Hospice dealmaking was on pace for 44 deals, an increase of 57%, while the volume of private duty and Medicaid deals were set to decline by 10% and 42%, respectively.
Improved payment predictability from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) after months of uncertainty could partly explain the increase in dealmaking.
“After a devastating proposed rule issued by CMS last year that initially floated a Medicare home health cut of 6.4% (the final rule was a somewhat more palatable cut of 1.3%), the proposed rule issued in July for 2027 recommended an increase of 2.4%,” the report’s authors wrote. “The upshot is that many industry insiders believe that CMS may have concluded that it has finally battered home health enough, paving the way for greater payment predictability.”
This, combined with the six-month moratorium on new home health and hospice provider enrollment, which the report said many believe will be extended in November and could extend through the remainder of the Trump administration, makes it “no surprise” that dealmaking is trending upwards after four consecutive years of declines, according to the report.
Healthcare services dealmaking overall is on track to surpass pre-pandemic transaction numbers, according to the report.
Home infusions and specialty pharmacy dealmaking is on pace to surpass its 2025 total by 32% and to reach the highest level in over a decade.
Rising demand for lower-cost care settings and accelerated hospital discharges have driven the increase in home infusions over the past few years, experts previously told Home Health Care News.
This year’s projected healthcare dealmaking follows weaker-than-expected M&A volume in 2025. Despite improved inflation rates and minimized workforce challenges, the Braff Group’s Managing Director Kris Novak said tariffs, interest rate cuts and other headwinds tempered home health dealmaking in 2025.