MIPS Reporting Deadlines: The Complete 2026 Timeline

MIPS has no late option. There is no extension request, no grace period, and no partial credit for data that arrives after the window closes. A category you fail to submit scores zero, and with the penalty reaching 9 percent of Medicare Part B payments, a missed date can cost more than a year of bad clinical luck.

The 2026 MIPS reporting deadlines below reflect the current Quality Payment Program timeline and are subject to change; we update this page when CMS moves one. As of this writing in July 2026, three deadlines that shape the year have already passed and five that decide it are still ahead.

The Full 2026 MIPS Deadline Table

The Deadlines That Already Passed, and What to Do If One Slipped

Virtual group election (closed December 31, 2025). If you intended to report 2026 as a virtual group and missed the election, that path is closed for this cycle. The election for the 2027 performance year is expected to open October 1, 2026, on the pattern of prior years, so the fix is a calendar entry, not a workaround.

CAHPS for MIPS registration (closed June 30, 2026). No CAHPS reporting for 2026 without it, and an MVP that would have paired with CAHPS proceeds without the survey. MVP registration itself remains open through November 30.

The 180-day Promoting Interoperability window (last start was July 5, 2026). This one causes more panic than it should. If your certified EHR has been in use all year, nothing was missed; any 180 continuous days of complete data in 2026 satisfies the requirement, including windows that already closed. The deadline only bites practices whose certified EHR technology was not yet live, because no compliant 180-day stretch can now fit inside the calendar year. For them, the realistic path is the PI hardship exception, due December 31. When PI is reweighted to zero, its weight shifts to the remaining categories, so model the reweighted score before you file.

The Deadlines Ahead, and What Each One Decides

October 3, 2026: the last 90-day Improvement Activities start. The easiest 15 points in MIPS die on the calendar more often than on merit. Choose your 2 activities (1 for small practices, rural practices, HPSAs, and non-patient-facing clinicians), begin them by October 3, and file the documentation as you go. CMS can ask for evidence years later.

November 30, 2026, 8 p.m. ET: MVP registration closes. Registration is required to report a MIPS Value Pathway for 2026, and multispecialty groups above 15 clinicians need their subgroup structure decided before they register. This is a decision deadline disguised as a form; the analysis belongs in October, not the day before. Our MVP overview covers how the pathways compare to traditional MIPS.

December 31, 2026, 8 p.m. ET: exception applications close as the performance year ends. The Extreme and Uncontrollable Circumstances (EUC) exception can reweight any or all categories for practices hit by disasters, and the PI hardship exception covers clinicians who cannot meet the EHR requirements. Both die with the year. If a hurricane, cyberattack, or system failure disrupted your 2026 data, apply before the window closes rather than explaining afterward, because afterward there is no one to explain to.

January 4 to March 31, 2027: the submission window. Every collection type, every category, one window, closing at 8 p.m. ET on March 31. The practical deadline is earlier than the official one: data validation, measure selection, and error correction take weeks when done properly, which is why we push registry clients to be substantively complete in February. The 2026 reporting guide covers what a submission needs to contain.

Summer 2027: final scores and the targeted review window. CMS releases 2026 final scores, then payment adjustment details roughly 30 days later. The targeted review window, your only mechanism to contest a scoring or adjustment error, closes 30 days after the payment adjustment release under 42 CFR 414.1385(a)(2). Once it closes, the score is final. Calendar it the day scores drop.

January 1, 2028: the money moves. Whatever 2026 produced is applied to every Medicare Part B covered professional service you bill in 2028.

Meanwhile, the 2025 Cycle Is Still in Motion

Two performance years always overlap. The 2025 submission window closed March 31, 2026; final 2025 scores are expected this summer, with payment adjustment information following and a 30-day targeted review window after that. When your 2025 feedback arrives, review it the week it lands. It is both your last chance to contest that score and the best diagnostic you will get for finishing 2026 well. If you want a second read, bring us the feedback report; we will show you what the gaps were worth.

MIPS Deadline FAQs