Policy & oversight
Medicare's Six-Month Freeze on New Home Health and Hospice Providers Is Set to Expire November 13, With No Extension Announced
CMS halted new Medicare enrollment for home health agencies and hospices in May as an anti-fraud step. The six-month window closes November 13, and the agency has not published any notice of renewal.
By the Goodsurance editorial teamOctober 26, 2026
A six-month nationwide pause on new Medicare enrollment for home health agencies and hospice providers is set to expire November 13, 2026, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has not announced whether it will extend or lift the freeze.
CMS imposed the moratorium effective May 13, 2026, in coordination with a federal anti-fraud initiative. The agency said it would use the pause to conduct targeted investigations, apply data analytics to identify suspicious billing patterns, and remove providers suspected of fraud from Medicare. The moratorium applies in all 50 states, U.S. territories, and the District of Columbia.
Medicare's freeze on new home health and hospice providers hits its expiration date November 13. No extension has been announced.
Under federal rules, a temporary enrollment moratorium lasts six months and may be renewed in additional six-month periods if CMS determines an extension is warranted. Any renewal must be announced through a notice published in the Federal Register.
Existing enrolled home health and hospice providers can continue to operate, submit claims, and make routine updates to their enrollment records during the moratorium. The freeze applies only to new applicants seeking to join Medicare for the first time and to certain majority ownership changes. Applications received before May 13 continued to be processed.
CMS cited what it called a significant potential for fraud in both sectors, pointing to rapid growth in provider enrollment in certain markets and patterns suggesting improper billing and unauthorized beneficiary enrollments.
For Medicare beneficiaries, the freeze limits the pool of providers that can newly join the program. This affects access most directly in areas where existing provider supply was already limited before the moratorium began.
In plain words
In May 2026, Medicare stopped letting new home health agencies and hospice companies join the program. The government said too many bad actors were signing up and billing Medicare for things that never happened. That pause lasts six months. It ends on November 13, 2026. No one has said yet if Medicare will keep the pause going or let it end. If you already have a home health or hospice provider, nothing changes for you. Only new companies trying to join Medicare for the first time are affected. In some places where there are already few providers, this means fewer new choices.
Understand the basics first
Source: CMS
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