As of November 12, 2026, CMS's nationwide moratorium on enrolling new home health agencies in Medicare is still in effect, and CMS has published no notice extending it, in the Federal Register or on the Federal Register's public inspection desk. The moratorium took effect on May 13, 2026, for six months. Six months from May 13 is November 13, 2026. That date is our count, not one CMS printed, but it is how CMS counted the six months of its DMEPOS moratorium earlier this year. Whether CMS extends this one is not known yet.
Info
Status, checked November 12, 2026: in effect. No extension notice in the Federal Register's documents or on public inspection. CMS's CY 2027 home health final rule, published November 9, speaks of "our present hospice and HHA moratoria" and calls the DMEPOS one "now expired." This page will be updated when CMS publishes an extension or the six months pass.
What Is Known Today
| Question | Answer as of November 12, 2026 | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Is the moratorium in effect? | Yes | CY 2027 final rule (CMS-1844-F), published November 9, 2026 |
| When did it start? | "This moratorium is effective May 13, 2026." | FR Doc. 2026-09717, 91 FR 27954 |
| How long does it last? | "a temporary enrollment moratorium imposed by CMS remains in effect for 6 months. If CMS deems it necessary, the moratorium may be extended in 6-month increments." | FR Doc. 2026-09717 |
| When do the six months end? | November 13, 2026, by our count | Our arithmetic, matching CMS's count for the DMEPOS moratorium |
| Has CMS published an extension? | No | Federal Register API and public inspection, checked November 12, 2026 |
| What about hospices? | A separate nationwide moratorium on new hospices, effective the same day | FR Doc. 2026-09718, 91 FR 27946 |
How CMS Counts Six Months
CMS's first moratorium of 2026, on Medicare enrollment of DMEPOS medical supply companies, took effect February 27, 2026 (91 FR 9855). A footnote in the CY 2027 final rule says: "It expired on August 27, 2026, and was not extended." Counted the same way, six months from May 13 ends on November 13.
The Three Ways It Can Go
| If CMS... | What CMS must publish | What it means for a new agency |
|---|---|---|
| Extends it | A Federal Register document. 42 CFR 424.570(b): "CMS will publish a document in the Federal Register when it extends a moratorium." | Another six months. By the same count, to May 13, 2027. Applications filed in the meantime are denied |
| Lets it lapse | The regulation names no document for a lapse. CMS's moratorium FAQ says the lifting "will also be announced through an FR notice," but the DMEPOS moratorium ended on August 27 with no Federal Register document; CMS confirmed it only in the final rule's footnote | New agencies can apply again. CMS told state survey agencies that applications submitted during the moratorium "will be denied and the application will need to be resubmitted once the moratoria are lifted" |
| Lifts it early | A Federal Register document. 42 CFR 424.570(d): "CMS will publish a document in the Federal Register when a moratorium is lifted." | The same as a lapse |
A lapse or lifting does not reopen denied applications. CMS's FAQ: "Initial enrollment applications submitted during a moratorium will be denied and the application will need to be resubmitted once the moratorium is lifted." The notice adds that an application fee is refunded when an application is denied because of the moratorium (42 CFR 424.514(d)(2)(v)(C)). It also says that once a moratorium is lifted, the provider types it kept out are screened at the "high" level if they apply within six months. New home health agencies are in the high-risk screening category anyway (42 CFR 424.518(c)(1)(i)).
What the CY 2027 Final Rule Changes About Moratoria
The CY 2027 home health final rule, published in the Federal Register on November 9 (91 FR 72022), also rewrites 42 CFR 424.570, the moratorium regulation. CMS finalized its proposals "without modification." These provisions take effect January 4, 2027. The published rule prints that date as January 4, 2026, a misprint for 2027: the public-inspection version set it at 60 days after the November 4, 2026 filing. The changes:
- The start date. A moratorium's effective date becomes "the date on which the moratorium notice is filed for public inspection at the Office of the Federal Register." CMS's reason: otherwise applicants "might have several days to submit their initial applications in order to 'beat the deadline.'" A future extension or new moratorium could take effect the day it appears on the public inspection desk.
- What counts as "new." A moratorium will cover initial enrollments, changes of ownership that require an initial enrollment, revoked providers whose reenrollment bar has ended, voluntarily terminated providers enrolling again, and reactivation applications.
- Ownership changes. The exemption for changes in ownership now names hospices and DMEPOS suppliers alongside home health agencies, so a change in majority ownership that requires a new enrollment under 42 CFR 424.550(b) or 424.551 stays inside the moratorium for all three.
What that means if this moratorium is extended past early January: an enrolled agency whose Medicare billing privileges are deactivated could not reactivate until the moratorium ends. That is our reading of the new text; CMS rejected requests for exemptions, writing that "section 1866(j)(7) of the Act does not permit individual, case-by-case exceptions to a moratorium."
What the Moratorium Covers Now
- New agencies, branches and practice locations. The notice: "no new HHAs or HHA branches or practice locations will be enrolled into Medicare unless the HHA's enrollment application was received by the applicable Medicare contractor prior to this notice's effective date."
- Not the agencies already enrolled. CMS: "the moratorium would not impact the roughly 11,500 currently enrolled HHAs, which could continue furnishing services," apart from adding branches.
- Some sales. A change in majority ownership within 36 months of initial enrollment, or of the last such change, makes the agency enroll as new, so the moratorium blocks it. Our guide to buying a home health agency walks through the 36-month rule, and what a home health agency is worth covers what the freeze does to prices.
- Accreditation. CMS told state survey agencies that during the moratorium, a prospective agency's accreditation "will not serve as the basis for Medicare participation through deemed status" (QSO-26-11-HHA & Hospice).
- Medicaid. CMS left it to each state "to decide whether some form of a home health provider moratorium is appropriate."
If you are starting an agency, the state license steps do not stop. See how to start a home health agency in 2026, and the state guides for Florida and Texas. The Markets page counts new agencies by state since the freeze and quotes the notice in full.
How to Check It Yourself
An extension, if one comes, will show up first on the Federal Register's public inspection desk (opens in a new tab), usually a business day or more before it is published. Under the new rule, the day it is filed would be the day it takes effect. Look for a CMS notice with "Extension" in its title: two extensions of the earlier home health moratoria were titled "Announcement of the Extended Temporary Moratoria on Enrollment of Ground Ambulance Suppliers and Home Health Agencies in Designated Geographic Locations" (February 2, 2016) and "Announcement of the Extension of Temporary Moratoria on Enrollment of Part B Non-Emergency Ground Ambulance Suppliers and Home Health Agencies in Designated Geographic Locations" (January 9, 2017). Also watch:
- The Federal Register's CMS documents (opens in a new tab), newest first, and our rule tracker page for the notice
- CMS's Provider Enrollment Moratoria (opens in a new tab) page, last modified August 27, 2026 when we read it
- Your Medicare Administrative Contractor's news page, and CMS's MLN Connects newsletter
The Federal Register does not publish on weekends or on Veterans Day, November 11.
Key Takeaways
- As of November 12, 2026, the nationwide moratorium on new home health agencies is in effect, and no extension has been published.
- It began May 13, 2026, for six months. By CMS's own way of counting, that ends November 13, 2026.
- An extension must be published in the Federal Register. A lapse may come with no notice at all, as the DMEPOS moratorium's did in August.
- Applications denied during the moratorium are not revived. They must be filed again after it ends.
- From early January 2027, a moratorium also covers reactivations and takes effect the day its notice is filed.
Sources
- FR Doc. 2026-09717, 91 FR 27954 (opens in a new tab) (May 15, 2026), Announcement of Nationwide Temporary Moratoria on Enrollment of Home Health Agencies (CMS-6101-N): the effective date, length, scope, fee refund and screening level.
- FR Doc. 2026-09718, 91 FR 27946 (opens in a new tab) (May 15, 2026), the hospice moratorium.
- FR Doc. 2026-03971, 91 FR 9855 (opens in a new tab) (February 27, 2026), the DMEPOS medical supply company moratorium.
- CY 2027 HH PPS final rule, CMS-1844-F, FR Doc. 2026-22750 (opens in a new tab), on public inspection November 4, 2026, published November 9, 2026 at 91 FR 72022: section on Temporary Moratoria (§ 424.570), its footnote on the DMEPOS moratorium, and the DATES section.
- 42 CFR 424.570 (opens in a new tab), Moratoria on newly enrolling Medicare providers and suppliers (eCFR, read November 7, 2026, before the final rule's changes).
- CMS, QSO-26-11-HHA & Hospice (opens in a new tab) (May 20, 2026), memo to state survey agency directors.
- CMS, Home Health and Hospice Nationwide Moratorium Q&As (opens in a new tab), last revised July 9, 2026.
- CMS, Provider Enrollment Moratoria (opens in a new tab).
- Federal Register API, CMS documents containing "moratorium" published since February 1, 2026, and the current public inspection list, both queried November 7 and again November 12, 2026.