Federal update · August 2026
What Changed in the August 2026 Nursing Home Update
The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) refreshed its public nursing home data in the August 2026 release. Comparing it with the July 2026 release, 1,036 of the country's nursing homes changed their overall Medicare star rating: 530 moved lower and 506 moved higher. 60 facilities were newly added to the federal Special Focus watch list. 115 were newly flagged with the federal abuse indicator.
Everything below is a factual change in the public federal data. Where we explain what a category means, that is Open Care Data's own plain-English summary. A star rating is a rolling measure and can change again in a future update.
Across 14,687 nursing homes present in both releases · 62 came off the watch list.
The sharpest downgrades
Nursing homes whose overall rating fell by two stars or more in a single update. A drop this size usually follows a new health inspection or serious citation.
Newly flagged for abuse
CMS adds an abuse icon to a facility's record when it has been cited for abuse (or potential abuse that caused harm) in recent inspections. These 115 carried the flag in August 2026 but not in July 2026.
Showing 25 of 115.
New to the federal watch list
The Special Focus Facility program singles out a small number of nursing homes with a persistent pattern of serious quality problems for extra federal scrutiny. These joined the list or its candidate pool in August 2026.
The biggest improvements
Nursing homes whose overall rating rose by two stars or more, the other side of the same update.
Where the changes clustered
States with the most facilities that changed rating, watch-list status, or abuse flag this update. Open a state for its full list.
See the full update. Every rating change, watch-list move and new flag, nationwide and by state, is on the rating changes hub.
Want to be told the moment a specific facility changes? Search for it and turn on free monitoring.
Source: CMS Provider Data Catalog, August 2026 nursing home release, compared with July 2026. The facts are CMS's; the presentation and explanations are Open Care Data's. Star ratings and flags can change again in future updates. Open Care Data is independent and not affiliated with CMS, Medicare, or any government agency. How we use this data.