Radiation Oncology Billing Calendar 2026 to 2027: Key Dates

This radiation oncology billing calendar collects every date a radiation oncology billing office has to plan around, from the start of the current fiscal year’s code set in October 2025 through the end of the Medicare telehealth extension on December 31, 2027. It is updated each quarter, when the quarterly code and edit files post and when CMS publishes a rule. The current version was checked on October 20, 2026.

Two kinds of entries appear below. Dates marked Verified were confirmed from the source named in the row. Dates marked Expected have not been announced; they follow the pattern of the prior year (quarterly updates take effect on the first day of January, April, July and October; the physician fee schedule and hospital outpatient final rules arrived on October 31 and November 21 in 2025, and the proposed rules on July 14 and July 2 in 2026). Treat an Expected row as a reminder to look, not as a fact.

The fourth quarter is the busiest. The final rules, the ICD-10 update, the Q4 NCCI and MUE files and open enrollment all arrive within about six weeks.

October 2025 to December 2025

Date	What	Status	Source
October 1, 2025	FY 2026 ICD-10-CM and ICD-10-PCS codes take effect	Verified	CMS ICD-10 codes page
October 1, 2025	Q4 2025 NCCI PTP and MUE files; October 2025 HCPCS quarterly update	Verified	CMS NCCI and HCPCS quarterly update pages
October 1, 2025	Medicare telehealth flexibilities lapse; MACs return a subset of telehealth claims (CARC 16, RARC M77)	Verified	CMS MLN Connects, November 21, 2025
October 31, 2025	CY 2026 Physician Fee Schedule final rule (CMS-1832-F) goes on display	Verified	CMS rule page and fact sheet
November 5, 2025	CY 2026 PFS final rule published in the Federal Register	Verified	CMS rule page
November 12, 2025	Public Law 119-37 restores the telehealth flexibilities retroactively, October 1, 2025 through January 30, 2026; returned claims become payable	Verified (law and dates from CMS MLN Connects; enactment date from the fee schedule post’s source)	CMS MLN Connects, November 21, 2025
November 21, 2025	CY 2026 OPPS and ASC final rule (CMS-1834-FC) released	Verified	CMS fact sheet
November 25, 2025	CY 2026 OPPS final rule published in the Federal Register	Verified (date taken from the govinfo link on the CMS rule page)	CMS rule page
December 23, 2025	UnitedHealthcare notice: radiation prior authorization moves to 77402, 77407, 77412 and 77387-26 for treatment starting January 1, 2026	Verified	UHC provider news (see the prior authorization post)

January 2026 to June 2026

Date	What	Status	Source
January 1, 2026	CY 2026 PFS and OPPS rules take effect: conversion factors $33.57 (QP) and $33.40; 77402, 77407, 77412 replace 77385, 77386, 77401, 77014, G6001 to G6017; 77387 professional only; 77436 to 77439 for superficial therapy	Verified	CMS PFS fact sheet; CPT 2026 (see the code changes post)
January 1, 2026	CMS-0057-F decision timeframes begin for Medicare Advantage, Medicaid and CHIP: 72 hours expedited, 7 calendar days standard, specific reason for every denial	Verified	CMS fact sheet, CMS-0057-F
January 1, 2026	WISeR model begins in Arizona, New Jersey, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas and Washington (runs through December 31, 2031); radiation therapy is not on its service list	Verified	CMS Innovation Center WISeR page
January 1, 2026	Q1 2026 NCCI and MUE files; January 2026 HCPCS update; January 2026 OPPS Addenda A and B; eviCore Radiation Oncology Coding Manual V1.0.2026 effective for Cigna	Verified	CMS quarterly pages; eviCore (see the prior authorization post)
January 2026 to March 31, 2026, 8:00 PM ET	MIPS data submission for the 2025 performance year	Verified (close date and time; the open date, January 2, 2026, was seen in search results only)	PALTmed, January 5, 2026
January 30, 2026	Last day of the telehealth restoration under Public Law 119-37	Verified	CMS MLN Connects, November 21, 2025
February 3, 2026	Public Law 119-75 (H.R. 7148, Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2026) signed; Medicare telehealth flexibilities run through December 31, 2027	Verified	govinfo public law page; CMS Telehealth FAQ
March 1, 2026	UnitedHealthcare commercial policy 2026T0613L revision effective; Noridian billing and coding article A60181 R1 (superficial radiation therapy) effective	Verified	UHC policy PDF (see the prior authorization post); Noridian article page
March 31, 2026	First public prior authorization metrics due from CMS-0057-F payers; MIPS 2025 submission closes	Verified	CMS fact sheet, CMS-0057-F; PALTmed
April 1, 2026	Q2 2026 NCCI and MUE files; April 2026 HCPCS update; April 2026 OPPS addenda; FY 2026 ICD-10 April update files (discharges April 1 through September 30, 2026)	Verified	CMS quarterly pages; CMS ICD-10 codes page
May 28, 2026	No Surprises Act IDR operations final rule issued; the administrative fee falls from $115 to $15 per party per dispute for disputes initiated on or after June 4, 2026	Verified	Proskauer summary

July 2026 to December 2026

Date	What	Status	Source
July 1, 2026	Q3 2026 NCCI PTP edits (v322r0, posted June 1) and MUE files; July 2026 HCPCS update; July 2026 OPPS addenda	Verified	CMS quarterly pages
July 2, 2026	CY 2027 OPPS and ASC proposed rule (CMS-1850-P) released; published July 7, 2026	Verified	CMS fact sheet; Federal Register via govinfo
July 5, 2026	Last day to begin a 180-day Promoting Interoperability performance period for 2026	Verified	CMS 2026 Promoting Interoperability Quick Start Guide
July 14, 2026	CY 2027 Physician Fee Schedule proposed rule (CMS-1848-P) on display; published July 16, 2026	Verified	CMS rule page and fact sheet
August 31, 2026	Comments close on the CY 2027 OPPS proposed rule	Verified	Federal Register text via govinfo
September 14, 2026	Comments close on the CY 2027 PFS proposed rule	Verified	CMS rule page
September 26 to 30, 2026	ASTRO 68th Annual Meeting, Boston	Verified	Conference listing
October 1, 2026	FY 2027 ICD-10-CM and ICD-10-PCS codes take effect (discharges and encounters October 1, 2026 through September 30, 2027)	Verified	CMS ICD-10 codes page
October 1, 2026	Q4 2026 NCCI PTP edits (v323r0, posted September 2) and MUE files (posted September 1); October 2026 HCPCS update (posted September 23); October 2026 OPPS addenda (updated October 15)	Verified	CMS quarterly pages
Early November 2026	CY 2027 PFS and OPPS final rules	Expected (the 2026 rules arrived October 31 and November 21, 2025)	Pattern
December 31, 2026	2026 MIPS performance year ends	Verified	CMS 2026 Promoting Interoperability Quick Start Guide

January 2027 to December 2027

Date	What	Status	Source
January 1, 2027	CY 2027 PFS and OPPS rules take effect; the one-year 2.5 percent conversion factor increase from Public Law 119-21 expires (proposed factors $33.17 QP and $32.84)	Verified for the expiry and proposed factors; final figures pending	CMS CY 2027 PFS fact sheet
January 1, 2027	CMS-0057-F Prior Authorization, Provider Access, Payer-to-Payer and Patient Access API requirements begin (compliance dates vary by payer type)	Verified	CMS fact sheet, CMS-0057-F
January 1, 2027	Q1 2027 NCCI and MUE files; January 2027 HCPCS update; January 2027 OPPS addenda (issued with the final rule)	Expected	Pattern
January 4 to March 31, 2027	MIPS data submission for the 2026 performance year	Verified	CMS 2026 Promoting Interoperability Quick Start Guide
March 31, 2027	Annual prior authorization metrics posting from CMS-0057-F payers	Expected (the rule requires annual posting; the fact sheet dates only the first, March 31, 2026)	CMS fact sheet, CMS-0057-F
April 1, 2027	Q2 2027 NCCI and MUE files; April 2027 HCPCS update; April 2027 OPPS addenda	Expected	Pattern
July 1, 2027	Q3 2027 NCCI and MUE files; July 2027 HCPCS update; July 2027 OPPS addenda	Expected	Pattern
July 2027	CY 2028 PFS and OPPS proposed rules	Expected (the 2027 proposals arrived July 2 and July 14, 2026)	Pattern
Early September 2027	Comment deadlines on the CY 2028 proposed rules (60 days after publication)	Expected	Pattern
September 19 to 22, 2027	ASTRO 69th Annual Meeting, Chicago	Verified from an exhibitor listing; ASTRO’s October 2026 newsletter reportedly lists September 18 to 22	LAP Laser events page
October 1, 2027	FY 2028 ICD-10-CM and ICD-10-PCS codes; Q4 2027 NCCI and MUE files; October 2027 HCPCS update; October 2027 OPPS addenda	Expected	Pattern
Early November 2027	CY 2028 PFS and OPPS final rules	Expected	Pattern
December 31, 2027	Medicare telehealth flexibilities end: the home as an originating site anywhere in the United States, the expanded practitioner list, RHC and FQHC distant-site billing and audio-only services. Starting January 1, 2028 most patients must again be at a rural site, and the in-person requirement for mental health telehealth begins	Verified	CMS Telehealth FAQ, October 8, 2026; Public Law 119-75
December 31, 2027	2027 MIPS performance year ends; the 75-point performance threshold is set through the 2028 performance year	Verified	CMS 2026 QPP final rule fact sheet

What to do now

Add the 2026 submission window to your calendar now: January 4 to March 31, 2027. The 2025 window closed at 8:00 PM ET, so plan for the same.
Hold the first week of November for reading the CY 2027 final rules and rebuilding the expected-payment table from the final Addendum B and RVU files, not from the proposed figures.
Reload code sets four times a year. NCCI PTP edits, MUEs, HCPCS and the OPPS addenda all update on January 1, April 1, July 1 and October 1; the Q4 2026 files were posted September 1 to 23, so a month of lead time is normal.
Re-verify every Medicare Advantage patient in January and keep the plan’s March 31 metrics posting with your payer file.
Check which payers owe you an API by January 1, 2027 and ask your clearinghouse what it will connect to.
Plan for the end of the telehealth flexibilities. Follow-up and survivorship visits furnished to patients at home end as a covered Medicare telehealth service on December 31, 2027 unless Congress acts again. Iridium Suite’s claim scrubber warns when 77431, 77432 or 77435 is billed for a telehealth facility type, which keeps the management codes that were never on the telehealth list from being billed as if they were; see the claim scrubber.

The radiation oncology billing calendar, 2026 to 2027: every date a biller needs