Guide · Requirements by state
License: Homemaker and Companion Services Provider Registration (Fla. Stat. §400.509), issued by Florida Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA). State fee: $50 — Registration fee set in Fla. Stat. §400.509(3): $50 per biennium (2 years). This is a registration, not a license — §400.509(1) exempts homemaker/companion-only providers from licensure but requires registration with AHCA.. Renewal: $50. Bond: no state minimum in the published rules. Administrator: Section 400.509 sets no administrator education/experience qualification for homemaker/companion registrants. The registrant must obtain employment/contract history for staff who will have contact with clients in their homes and must comply with AHCA background-screening rules (Ch. 408, Part II).
THE SCOPE TRAP: a homemaker/companion registration legally EXCLUDES hands-on personal care. AHCA's own surveyor guidance states a homemaker and companion service is prohibited from providing any hands-on personal care, must not accept clients who need personal care, and may provide only housekeeping, chores, errands, cooking and companionship. Bathing, dressing, toileting or other personal care — and any home health service — requires a Home Health Agency license (or a Nurse Registry license). The full service-by-service table is on the Florida state page — check your marketing against it before you print anything.
Published timeline: AHCA's statutory decision clock (60 days after receipt of all required documentation) is written for home health agency licensure applications in §400.471; §400.509 sets no separate published processing time for homemaker/companion registration.. And if Medicaid clients are part of the plan: Homemaker/companion registrants cannot bill Florida Medicaid for personal care. Medicaid personal care and home health are billed by AHCA-licensed Home Health Agencies enrolled as Florida Medicaid providers (enrollment via the Florida Medicaid portal/FLMMIS), largely through Statewide Medicaid Managed Care (SMMC) Long-term Care plans. Enrollment is a second application, on its own clock, after the license exists.
Requirements lists are static; your services are specific. The verdict checker applies Florida's rules to your exact service mix and payer lane, and prints the confirm-before-you-file citation with the verdict.
Dataset pages behind this guide: Florida state page · the full 50-state dataset (checked October 22, 2026).
Guides are general; verdicts are specific. The license checker applies your state's rules to your service mix, and the cost calculator prices your opening from the same dataset this guide cites.
The free checkers give you the verdict and the number. The Kit gives you the working papers: your state's application packet walked through in filing order, the policies-and-procedures binder spec (what your binder must contain — never a boilerplate binder), the administrator self-audit, the insurance & bond spec sheet, the Medicaid gate map, the franchise-vs-independent 10-year worksheets, and the payroll-runway planner.
$49 one-time payment
Included in the $49 HomeCareLicenseCheck Kit
