No Adjustment to HHS Civil Monetary Penalty Amounts for 2026

Issuing agencies

Abstract

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS or the Department) is notifying the public that there will be no Civil Monetary Penalty (CMP) inflation adjustment for 2026 in accordance with the April 17, 2026, guidance from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). HHS will continue to use the 2025 civil monetary penalty levels because there will be no cost-of-living adjustment for 2026.

Full Text

<html>
<head>
<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 202 (Wednesday, October 21, 2026)</title>
</head>
<body><pre>
[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 202 (Wednesday, October 21, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 66566-66567]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-21524]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES


No Adjustment to HHS Civil Monetary Penalty Amounts for 2026

AGENCY: Office of the Assistant Secretary for Financial Resources, 
Department of Health and Human Services.

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS or the 
Department) is notifying the public that there will be no Civil 
Monetary Penalty (CMP) inflation adjustment for 2026 in accordance with 
the April 17, 2026, guidance from the Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB). HHS

[[Page 66567]]

will continue to use the 2025 civil monetary penalty levels because 
there will be no cost-of-living adjustment for 2026.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jennifer Johnson, Deputy Assistant 
Secretary, Office of Acquisitions, Office of the Assistant Secretary 
for Financial Resources, Room 536-H, Hubert Humphrey Building, 200 
Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20201; (771) 215-0133.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    The Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements 
Act of 2015 (section 701 of Pub. L. 114-74) amended the Federal Civil 
Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990 (Pub. L. 101-410, 104 Stat. 
890 (1990)), which is intended to improve the effectiveness of CMPs and 
to maintain the deterrent effect of such penalties requires agencies to 
adjust the CMPs for inflation annually.
    HHS lists the CMP authorities and the amounts administered by its 
Divisions in tabular form in 45 CFR 102.3, which was issued in an 
interim final rule published in the September 6, 2016, Federal Register 
(81 FR 61538). Annual adjustments were subsequently published on 
February 3, 2017 (82 FR 9175), October 11, 2018 (83 FR 51369), November 
5, 2019 (84 FR 59549), January 17, 2020 (85 FR 2869), November 15, 2021 
(86 FR 62928), March 17, 2022 (87 FR 15100), October 6, 2023 (88 FR 
69531), August 8, 2024 (89 FR 64815), and January 28, 2026 (91 FR 
3665).

II. Calculation of 2025 Fiscal Year Penalties

    The annual inflation adjustment for each applicable CMP is 
determined using the percent increase in the Consumer Price Index for 
all Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for the month of October of the year in 
which the amount of each CMP was most recently established or modified. 
In the December 17, 2024, OMB Memorandum for the Heads of Executive 
Departments and Agencies, M-25-02, ``Implementation of Penalty 
Inflation Adjustments for 2025, Pursuant to the Federal Civil Penalties 
Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015,'' OMB published the 
multiplier for the required annual adjustment. The cost-of-living 
adjustment multiplier for 2025, based on the CPI-U for the month of 
October 2024, not seasonally adjusted, was 1.02598. The multiplier was 
applied to each applicable penalty amount that was updated and 
published for fiscal year 2024 and was rounded to the nearest dollar. 
Those CMP updates were published at 91 FR 3665.

III. Cancellation of 2026 Penalty Inflation Adjustment

    Due to a lapse in appropriations from October 1, 2025, until 
November 12, 2025, BLS was unable to produce the October 2025 CPI-U 
data. As a result, there was no inflation adjustment multiplier for 
2026, which is needed to adjust civil monetary penalties for the 2026 
calendar year under the 2015 Act. On April 17, 2026, OMB issued 
Memorandum M-26-11 informing agencies of the cancellation of the 
inflation adjustment for 2026. As a result, HHS will continue using the 
maximum civil monetary penalties as adjusted for inflation by the 2025 
adjustment for all penalties imposed after January 15, 2025.

Gustav Chiarello,
Assistant Secretary for Financial Resources, Department of Health and 
Human Services.
[FR Doc. 2026-21524 Filed 10-20-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE P


</pre></body>
</html>