How to start a home health agency in New Jersey

New Jersey requires a Home health agency license from New Jersey Department of Health, Office of Certificate of Need and Healthcare Facility Licensure to operate a home health agency. Fee: $2,000.

License required

Yes

License

Home health agency license

Issuing agency

New Jersey Department of Health, Office of Certificate of Need and Healthcare Facility Licensure

Fee

$2,000

Fee details

$2,000 nonrefundable fee for the licensure application; $1,000 for transfer of ownership; $250 for relocation.

Renewal

Every year · $2,000 for each annual renewal, plus a $500 biennial inspection fee billed in the inspection year.

Survey and inspection

Biennial inspection, billed at $500 in the inspection year.

Certificate of need

Required

Medicare certification

State rules require at least nursing, homemaker-home health aide and physical therapy services, which the Department notes exceeds the federal requirement. Separately, CMS put a 6-month nationwide moratorium on new Medicare enrollment of home health agencies (including new branches and practice locations) into effect on May 13, 2026; it can be extended in 6-month increments, and CMS left any Medicaid/CHIP moratorium to each state.

Regulation

N.J.S.A. 26:2H-1 et seq.; N.J.A.C. 8:42 (incl. 8:42-2.1 CON, 8:42-2.2 fees); N.J.A.C. 8:33

1. Obtain a Certificate of Need, which is issued only in response to a Department CON call (N.J.A.C. 8:33)
2. Optionally request a preliminary conference with the Office of CON and Healthcare Facility Licensure
3. File Form CN-7 (Application for New or Amended Acute Care Facility License) with the fee
4. Department licensure inspection

Staffing

• Director of nursing responsible for patient care services and nursing supervision (N.J.A.C. 8:42-5.3)

Program

NJ FamilyCare / New Jersey Medicaid (Division of Medical Assistance and Health Services, NJ Department of Human Services)

Enrollment portal

NJMMIS.com Provider Enrollment Applications (downloadable packages by provider type)

Fiscal agent

Gainwell Technologies

Application fee

Some provider types must pay an application fee unless they paid one recently. Proof of a fee paid to Medicare or another state's Medicaid program in the past 5 years can be attached instead. Otherwise the payment goes to the NJ Division of Revenue lockbox with the application. Under the federal rule (42 CFR 455.460), institutional providers pay the CMS application fee when they first enroll, re-enroll or revalidate. The fee is $750 for calendar year 2026. Individual physicians and non-physician practitioners do not pay it. A fee already paid to Medicare or to another state's Medicaid program counts.

Fingerprinting

Under federal rules (42 CFR 455.434 and 455.450), the state places provider types in 'limited', 'moderate' or 'high' risk levels. High-risk providers, and anyone who owns 5% or more of one, must submit fingerprints for a criminal background check. The NJMMIS enrollment pages we reviewed do not describe a separate state fingerprinting process.

Site visit

Under federal rule (42 CFR 455.432), the state must visit moderate- and high-risk providers before and after enrollment. Every enrolled provider must allow unannounced on-site inspections. The NJMMIS enrollment pages we reviewed do not describe a separate state site visit process.

Revalidation

New Jersey revalidates providers every five years under the ACA. To revalidate, file the full enrollment package for your provider type with the Revalidation Cover Page on top; requests without the cover page are not processed. Signatures can be electronic. Send it by secure email, fax or mail to the Gainwell Provider Revalidation Unit. If you don't return the package, claims may be pended or denied. Revalidation Unit: 1-833-909-1522. Federal rule (42 CFR 455.414) requires the state to revalidate every enrolled provider at least once every 5 years.

Full New Jersey Medicaid enrollment guide →

For this business

Required (licensing source)

CON program

Yes

Program

Certificate of Need (full review and Expedited Review, ERCN)

Agency

New Jersey Department of Health, Certificate of Need and Healthcare Facility Licensure; State Health Planning Board advises the Commissioner on full-review applications

Services covered

• long-term care (general, ventilator, pediatric)
• rehabilitation beds
• psychiatric beds
• new general hospitals and children's hospitals
• transfer of ownership of a general hospital
• maternal and child health, pediatric intensive care
• transplantation, burn centers, trauma units, mobile intensive care units
• home health
• new assisted living facilities
• hospital sub-acute unit capacity changes
• establishment, capacity, scope, location or cost changes and major moveable equipment for covered facilities (often expedited)

New Jersey certificate of need details →

Model

hybrid

State vendor

HHAeXchange

Services in scope

• personal care
• MLTSS home-based supportive care
• DDD individual supports
• DDD in-home respite
• DDD community-based supports
• home health

Alternate EVV allowed

Yes

Program

https://www.nj.gov/humanservices/dmahs/providers-stakeholders/overview/evv.shtml

New Jersey EVV requirements →

State minimum wage

$15.92 an hour

Effective

2026-01-01

Scheduled increases

Rises to $16.48 on 2027-01-01 for most employers; $16.25 for seasonal and small employers; $15.00 for agricultural workers.

Direct-care wage floor

Long-term care facility direct care staff must be paid $3.00/hour above the standard state minimum wage ($18.92 in 2026); this rises to $19.48 on 2027-01-01.

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)

2,526 (as of Sep 13, 2026)

Medicare-certified home health agencies (CMS Care Compare)

38 (as of May 27, 2026)

Total Medicaid and CHIP enrollment (latest reported month)

1,725,496 (as of Jun 1, 2026)

All New Jersey Home health Medicaid rates, ranked →