05/14/2026
CMS Enrollment Moratoria
Hospice and Home Health Moratorium
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) posted notices in the Federal Register on May 13, 2026, announcing 6-month nationwide moratoria on the Medicare enrollment of hospices and home health agencies (HHAs). These moratoria are effective on May 13, 2026.
If CMS deems it necessary, the moratoria may be extended in 6-month increments. CMS evaluates whether to extend or lift the moratorium before the end of the initial 6-month period and, if applicable, before the expiration of any subsequent moratorium period. If the moratorium announced in this notice is extended, CMS will publish a document regarding such extension(s) in the Federal Register.
With the need to prevent potential fraud before it begins rather than after the fact, CMS has determined to impose nationwide moratoria on the enrollment of hospices, hospice practice locations, HHAs, HHA branches, and HHA practice locations.
Beginning on May 13, 2026:
No new hospices or hospice practice locations will be enrolled in Medicare unless the hospice’s enrollment application was received by the applicable Medicare contractor prior to the effective date.
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.
Geographically, the moratoria apply to providers seeking to enroll anywhere in the United States, including all States, territories, and the District of Columbia.
An HHA “branch office,” is defined in 42 CFR 484.2 as an approved location or site from which an HHA provides services within a portion of the total geographic area served by the parent HHA – the parent providing supervision and administrative control of the branch. The branch need not independently meet the HHA CoPs. For purposes of provider enrollment, CMS has always considered an HHA branch to be a practice location of the HHA.
Providers undergoing a non-exempt change in majority ownership (CIMO) within 36 months of initial enrollment (or within 36 months of the most recent CIMO) must enroll in Medicare as a brand-new provider and undergo a state survey or deemed status accreditation. The provider’s current enrollment and provider agreements are terminated. This means the provider’s new enrollment is an initial enrollment similar to a provider that has never enrolled in Medicare before. Hence, the moratoria will prevent providers undergoing a non-exempt CIMO from reenrolling in Medicare because it would constitute an initial enrollment; the provider is “new.”
CMS does not believe that a national moratorium will threaten beneficiaries’ ability to receive hospice or home health services in any of these programs. However, CMS will monitor for any access to care issues, including in rural areas.
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