How to start a home health agency in Florida

Florida requires a Home Health Agency license from Florida Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA), Laboratory and In-Home Services Unit to operate a home health agency. Fee: Fee is set by AHCA rule and may not exceed $2,000 per biennium; government applicants are exempt. The current rule amount was not captured.

License required

Yes

License

Home Health Agency license

Issuing agency

Florida Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA), Laboratory and In-Home Services Unit

Fee

Fee is set by AHCA rule and may not exceed $2,000 per biennium; government applicants are exempt. The current rule amount was not captured.

Renewal

Every 2 years

Insurance and bonds

Malpractice and liability insurance of at least $250,000 per claim, with proof at initial application and each renewal.

Accreditation

Required for agencies providing skilled care: accreditation from an AHCA-recognized organization must be obtained and kept continuously; non-skilled agencies are exempt.

Survey and inspection

Surveyed before initial licensure and at least every 36.9 months thereafter, unannounced. AHCA accepts an accrediting organization's survey in place of its own if accreditation is not provisional and the report is released to AHCA.

Regulation

F.S. § 400.471 and Part III ch. 400; Part II ch. 408; Fla. Admin. Code ch. 59A-8 (incl. 59A-8.003)

1. Apply on the AHCA Health Care Licensing Application for Home Health Agencies with the addendum (online or paper)
2. Submit proof of compliance: services list, staffing, signed business plan, contingency funding, CPA-compiled two-year financial projections
3. Agencies providing skilled care submit accreditation documentation or an accreditation application, then provide non-provisional accreditation and a compliant accreditation survey within 120 days of AHCA's receipt of the application
4. Submit proof of required malpractice and liability insurance
5. Pass a survey before initial licensure (AHCA or recognized accrediting body)

Staffing

• Administrator and director of nursing (or alternates) must be available to the public eight consecutive hours between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. on weekdays
• Administrator, DON or authorized person must reach the premises within one hour of a surveyor's unannounced arrival

Program

Florida Medicaid (Agency for Health Care Administration)

Enrollment portal

Florida Medicaid Web Portal (FLMMIS) — Enrollment Wizard

Fiscal agent

Gainwell Technologies (Florida Medicaid Web Portal / FLMMIS)

Application fee

Federal rule (42 CFR 455.460): the state must collect the CMS application fee from institutional providers that are newly enrolling or re-enrolling; individual physicians and non-physician practitioners are exempt, as are providers already enrolled in (or that already paid the fee to) Medicare or another state's Medicaid/CHIP. CMS set the fee at $750 for calendar year 2026.

Fingerprinting

Florida also requires Level 2 background screening (fingerprint-based, under s. 408.809, F.S.) as part of enrollment and revalidation. Federal rule (42 CFR 455.434, 455.450(c)): providers the state places in the 'high' categorical risk level, and anyone owning 5% or more of such a provider, must submit fingerprints for a criminal background check.

Site visit

AHCA assigns each provider type a limited, moderate or high risk level under 42 CFR 455.450. Federal rule (42 CFR 455.432, 455.450(b)-(c)): the state must do site visits before and after enrollment for providers in the 'moderate' or 'high' risk levels, and any enrolled provider must allow unannounced on-site inspections.

Revalidation

Florida calls revalidation 'renewal': AHCA re-enrolls every provider at least every five years, mailing a notice about 90 days before the provider agreement expires. Claims suspend if the online renewal is not finished by the expiration date. Federal rule (42 CFR 455.414): every enrolled provider must be revalidated at least once every 5 years.

Full Florida Medicaid enrollment guide →

CON program

Yes

Program

Certificate of Need

Agency

Florida Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA)

Services covered

• community nursing homes / skilled nursing facility beds
• hospice programs and hospice inpatient facilities
• intermediate care facilities for the developmentally disabled (ICF/DD)
• conversion from one type of covered facility to another

Florida certificate of need details →

Model

hybrid

State vendor

HHAeXchange (fee-for-service, from 2024-10-01; Netsmart before)

Services in scope

• personal care
• home health
• private duty nursing

Alternate EVV allowed

Yes

Program

https://ahca.myflorida.com/medicaid/medicaid-home-health-hh-services/home-health-services-electronic-visit-verification-evv.html

Florida EVV requirements →

State minimum wage

$15.00 an hour

Effective

2026-09-30

Scheduled increases

Stays $15.00 from 2026-09-30 through 2027-12-31; annual inflation adjustments resume with a September 2027 calculation that takes effect the following January 1.

Direct-care wage floor

The 2022-23 General Appropriations Act funded Medicaid fee schedule and managed care rate increases for the sole purpose of raising wages of Medicaid providers' direct care employees (including 1099 workers) to at least $15/hour.

HCBS 80/20 rule

Federal baseline: 42 CFR 441.302(k) requires the state to show that each provider spends at least 80% of Medicaid payments for homemaker, home health aide and personal care services under 1915(c) waivers on direct care worker pay and benefits. Compliance starts 2030-07-09 (for managed care, the first rating period starting on or after that date); annual payment-adequacy reporting under 441.311(e) starts 2028-07-09. A state may set a lower share for state-defined small providers and exempt providers facing hardship, each only through a public notice-and-comment process. The eCFR text has not changed since 2024-07-09. No state-published 80/20 implementation step (small-provider criteria, hardship exemption or reporting guidance) was found for this state in the official sources reviewed.

Home health agencies — active organization NPIs (NPPES)

9,451 (as of Sep 13, 2026)

Medicare-certified home health agencies (CMS Care Compare)

1,146 (as of May 27, 2026)

Total Medicaid and CHIP enrollment (latest reported month)

3,565,369 (as of Jun 1, 2026)

All Florida Home health Medicaid rates, ranked →