US · guidance
CMS Pub. 100-06, ch. 3, § 140.6.2
Assumption of the Medicare Provider Agreement
The Medicare Provider Agreement is considered an executory contract for purposes of bankruptcy.
Bankruptcy law permits a debtor to affirm ("assume") or reject each of its executory contracts. The
debtor must first get the formal approval of the bankruptcy court. If the debtor formally assumes the
Medicare provider agreement, and the Bankruptcy Court approves that assumption, the relationship
between the provider and Medicare will generally return to the ordinary course of business. The CMS
Office will inform the Contractor if the provider assumes the Provider Agreement.
If the debtor rejects the Provider Agreement, the rejection is a voluntary termination of the Provider
Agreement. The CMS Office will inform the Contractor if the provider terminates its provider
agreement in this way. The Contractor should not reimburse the provider for services it performs after
the date it rejects/terminates the Provider Agreement. If the bankrupt provider sells a facility to another
entity and that entity assumes the debtor's provider agreement, any outstanding Medicare
underpayments or overpayments regarding that facility should be transferred to the new owner (the
purchaser) when the new owner assumes the provider agreement. Although the debtor and the new
owner may have a private agreement regarding who is responsible for refunding Medicare
overpayments and who should receive any Medicare underpayments, CMS is not bound by such
agreements.
The Contractor shall calculate net amounts that may be due to or owing from the debtor.
History
(Rev. 13825; Issued: 06-11-26; Effective: 07-13-26; Implementation: 07-13-26)
Provenance
- Source
- cms.gov
- Retrieved
- 2026-08-25
- Edition
- iom-2026-08-25
- Content hash
9ce29717921072a72ded509b30ae7a9796b6efb95e575ed802db1528c43927f1
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