Welcome to the National Committee for Quality Assurance’s (NCQA) Public Comment Resource Site, where you can find all pertinent information pertaining to Standards Year 2026 Public Comment.
NCQA now invites public comment feedback on changes proposed for surveys beginning July 1, 2026 in the following programs:
- Physician and Hospital Quality Certification
- Health Equity Accreditation
- Updates aligned with Health Equity Accreditation in the following programs:
- Health Plan Accreditation
- Behavioral Health Accreditation (formerly MBHO Accreditation)
- Distinction in Long-Term Services and Supports
- Accreditation of Case Management for LTSS
- Wellness and Health Promotion Accreditation/Certification
We value the perspectives of health care industry professionals, patients, health plan stakeholders and state agencies that play a critical role in shaping policies that directly impact public health and well-being. NCQA appreciates all feedback, and uses your comments to enhance and develop our programs and products. Your feedback is instrumental in ensuring that our programs align the goals and needs of multiple health care stakeholders, including the patients, members and communities you serve.
- Reviewers are asked to submit comments in writing through the My NCQA portal by 11:59 pm (ET), Monday, September 1, 2025.
PROPOSED PROGRAM UPDATES
2026 Physician and Hospital Quality Certification
The updates proposed to NCQA’s 2026 Physician and Hospital Quality Certification program during this public comment period seek to refresh the product by:
- Updating scoring to Met, Partially Met and Not Met options for each element.
- Retiring Program Change Reviews to alleviate the burden of submitting documentation between survey cycles.
- Updating and expanding the list of acceptable standardized sources and Performance-Based Designation Programs for PQ 1, Element A.
- Retiring file review element PQ 3, Element D, because organizations often do not have consumer complaints about physician measurement activities.
Documents
- 2026 Physician and Hospital Quality Certification: Overview of Proposed Updates summarizes standards updates proposed for 2026 Physician and Hospital Quality Certification.
- 2026 Physician and Hospital Quality Certification: Standards Proposed for Public Comment contains proposed standards updates for 2026 Physician and Hospital Quality Certification.
2026 Health Equity Accreditation
The updates proposed to NCQA’s 2026 Health Equity Accreditation program during this public comment period seek to:
- Add new elements that reflect industry priorities, challenges and needs. New requirements span:
- Disability.
- Geographic classification.
- Community Health Workers.
- Advanced data analytics.
- Revise, retire or replace existing requirements to:
- Align with emerging best practices.
- Adapt to the evolving policy environment.
- Provide flexibility.
- Better reflect the operations and experience of care delivery organizations.
- Improve program surveyability and clarity.
Your feedback will play a vital role in shaping the future of this program and help us ensure the program aligns with changing needs, challenges and regulatory requirements of the health care landscape, and to assist a variety of stakeholders in their pursuit of quality care.
Documents
- 2026 Health Equity Accreditation: Overview of Proposed Updates summarizes standards updates proposed for 2026 Health Equity Accreditation and Health Equity Accreditation Plus.
Refer to the following documents for the full standards and guidelines proposed for 2026 Health Equity Accreditation program surveys:
- 2026 Health Equity Accreditation: Standards Proposed for Public Comment.
- 2026 Health Equity Accreditation Plus: Standards Proposed for Public Comment.
Refer to 2026 Health Equity Accreditation: Summary of Questions for Public Comment for the full list of questions for respondents to address during this public comment period.
Refer to 2026 Health Equity Accreditation: Summary of Proposed Standards Updates, which provides a detailed summary of proposed updates across the Health Equity and Health Equity Plus milestone standards, as well as rationales and targeted questions.
2026 Health Plan Accreditation
To align with the proposed updates to 2026 Health Equity Accreditation, NCQA proposed updates to Health Plan Accreditation in the following areas:
- QI 1: Program Structure and Operations
- PHM 1: PHM Strategy
- PHM 3: Delivery System Supports
Documents
- 2026 HP, BH, LTSS, CM-LTSS and WHP: Overview of Proposed Updates summarizes standards updates proposed for inclusion in multiple 2026 Accreditations, Certifications and Distinctions in alignment with updates proposed for 2026 Health Equity Accreditation.
- 2026 HP, BH, LTSS, CM-LTSS and WHP: Standards Proposed for Public Comment contains proposed standards updates for 2026 Health Plan Accreditation.
- Respondents may also refer to 2026 Health Equity Accreditation: Standards Proposed for Public Comment for context.
2026 Behavioral Health Accreditation (formerly MBHO Accreditation)
To align with the proposed updates to 2026 Health Equity Accreditation, NCQA proposed updates to 2026 Behavioral Health Accreditation in the following area:
- QI 1: Program Structure and Operations
Documents
- 2026 HP, BH, LTSS, CM-LTSS and WHP: Overview of Proposed Updates summarizes standards updates proposed for inclusion in multiple 2026 Accreditations, Certifications and Distinctions in alignment with updates proposed for 2026 Health Equity Accreditation.
- 2026 HP, BH, LTSS, CM-LTSS and WHP: Standards Proposed for Public Comment contains proposed standards updates for 2026 Behavioral Health Accreditation.
- Respondents may also refer to 2026 Health Equity Accreditation: Standards Proposed for Public Comment for context.
2026 Distinction in Long-Term Services and Supports
To align with the proposed updates to 2026 Health Equity Accreditation, NCQA proposed updates to 2026 Distinction in Long-Term Services and Supports in the following area:
- LTSS 1: Core Features
Documents
- 2026 HP, BH, LTSS, CM-LTSS and WHP: Overview of Proposed Updates summarizes standards updates proposed for inclusion in multiple 2026 Accreditations, Certifications and Distinctions in alignment with updates proposed for 2026 Health Equity Accreditation.
- 2026 HP, BH, LTSS, CM-LTSS and WHP: Standards Proposed for Public Comment contains proposed standards updates for 2026 Distinction in Long-Term Services and Supports.
- Respondents may also refer to 2026 Health Equity Accreditation: Standards Proposed for Public Comment for context.
2026 Accreditation of Case Management for LTSS
To align with the proposed updates to 2026 Health Equity Accreditation, NCQA proposed updates to 2026 Accreditation of Case Management for LTSS in the following areas:
- LTSS 1: Program Description
- LTSS 6: Staffing, Training and Verification
Documents
- 2026 HP, BH, LTSS, CM-LTSS and WHP: Overview of Proposed Updates summarizes standards updates proposed for inclusion in multiple 2026 Accreditations, Certifications and Distinctions in alignment with updates proposed for 2026 Health Equity Accreditation.
- 2026 HP, BH, LTSS, CM-LTSS and WHP: Standards Proposed for Public Comment contains proposed standards updates for 2026 Accreditation of Case Management for LTSS.
- Respondents may also refer to 2026 Health Equity Accreditation: Standards Proposed for Public Comment for context.
2026 Wellness and Health Promotion Accreditation/Certification
To align with the proposed updates to 2026 Health Equity Accreditation, NCQA proposed updates to 2026 Wellness and Health Promotion Accreditation/Certification in the following area:
- WHP 1: Client Organization Engagement
Documents
- 2026 HP, BH, LTSS, CM-LTSS and WHP: Overview of Proposed Updates summarizes standards updates proposed for inclusion in multiple 2026 Accreditations, Certifications and Distinctions in alignment with updates proposed for 2026 Health Equity Accreditation.
- 2026 HP, BH, LTSS, CM-LTSS and WHP: Standards Proposed for Public Comment contains proposed standards updates for 2026 Wellness and Health Promotion Accreditation/Certification.
- Respondents may also refer to 2026 Health Equity Accreditation: Standards Proposed for Public Comment for context.
Submitting Comments
Submit all comments through the My NCQA portal. NCQA does not accept comments by mail, email or fax.
NCQA reviews all feedback submitted during the public comment period. To submit comments:
- Go to My NCQA and enter your email address and password.
- Once logged in, scroll down and click Public Comments.
- Click Add Comment to open the comment box.
- Click to select one or more programs from the drop-down box:
- Experience with NCQA’s Public Comment
- Updates to Physician and Hospital Quality Certification 2026
- Updates to Health Equity Accreditation 2026
- Updates to Health Plan Accreditation 2026
- Updates to Behavioral Health Accreditation 2026
- Updates to Distinction in Long-Term Services and Supports 2026
- Updates to Accreditation of Case Management for LTSS 2026
- Updates to Wellness and Health Promotion Accreditation/Certification 2026
- Click to select the Topic and Element (question) on which you would like to comment.
- Click to select your support option (Support, Do not support, Support with modifications).
- If you choose Do not support, include your rationale in the text box.
- If you choose Support with modifications, enter the suggested modification in the text box.
- Enter your comments in the Comments
Note: There is a 2,500-character limit for each comment. We suggest you develop your comments in Word to check your character limit; use the “cut and paste” function to copy your comment into the Comments box. - Use the Submit button to submit more than one comment. Use the Close button to finish leaving comments. You can view all submitted comments in the Public Comments
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Reviewers are asked to submit comments by 11:59 p.m. (ET) on Monday, September 1. Visit My NCQA to submit comments.
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