Alabama · Checked October 22, 2026
Non-medical home care is not state-licensed in Alabama — but the lanes around it are regulated, and the skilled door is a different license.
Checked in part. Absence claim: no home care/home health license category exists in ADPH licensure or the Alabama Administrative Code facility chapters reviewed, and ADPH's role for home health is certification (Medicare/Medicaid) with SHPDA CON as the entry gate; no single .gov sentence stating 'no license required' was captured in this pass, so marked partial. Medicaid personal-care approval rule and EVV are primary. Anything the state does not publish is printed as "Not published" below — never filled from blogs or consultancy tables. Confirm on the agency page before you budget.
| Item | Alabama |
|---|---|
| License / registration | No state license for home care / home health agencies (ADPH certifies agencies for Medicare/Medicaid participation; it does not license them) |
| Issued by | Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH), Division of Health Care Facilities / Certification; State Health Planning and Development Agency (SHPDA) — Certificate of Need for home health — official page |
| Application / initial fee | Not published — No state license fee for non-medical home care or for home health. Skilled home health entry is gated by a SHPDA Certificate of Need application (separate CON filing fees), not a license fee. |
| Renewal | Not applicable — no state license to renew. |
| Surety bond | No state bond minimum found in the published rules |
| Liability insurance | State sets no minimum for non-medical home care agencies |
| Timeline | Not published — no license application for the non-medical lane |
| Administrator | No state administrator requirement for non-medical personal care agencies. Medicare-certified home health agencies must meet federal Conditions of Participation (administrator/DON) via ADPH certification surveys. |
| State extras | For Medicaid waiver work: agency approval by the Medicaid Commissioner, EVV system cost, Medicaid enrollment. No state opening fee for private-pay non-medical care. |
| Service | Under this license |
|---|---|
| Companionship & supervision | Covered |
| Homemaker help | Covered |
| Hands-on personal care | Covered |
| Live-in / 24-hour care | Covered |
| Transportation | Covered |
| Skilled nursing or therapy | Home health license + a gate (see below) |
Non-medical personal care, companionship and homemaker agencies operate with ordinary business registration only. The regulated lane is Medicare/Medicaid-certified home health: ADPH certification + SHPDA Certificate of Need. Note the separate Alabama Board of Home Medical Equipment license covers DME providers only, not care agencies.
Home health: Certificate of Need from SHPDA (Ala. Code §22-21-260 et seq.) plus Medicare/Medicaid certification surveyed by ADPH — there is no ADPH-issued home health license to buy.
Certificate of Need (SHPDA) gates the skilled home health lane; it does not apply to non-medical personal care agencies.
Alabama Medicaid HCBS waivers (Elderly & Disabled Waiver via Alabama Department of Senior Services, ACT Waiver, TA Waiver): personal care must be provided by individuals employed by a certified home health agency or another health care agency approved by the Commissioner of the Alabama Medicaid Agency, supervised by a case manager (Ala. Admin. Code r. 560-X-44-.04); agencies enroll with Alabama Medicaid (Gainwell).
Alabama Medicaid Provider Manual Ch. 17 (Home Health): EVV is required for home health providers, all home health providers must secure their own EVV system before enrollment and file the EVV Attestation Form.
The state fee above is one line of the real total. Run the true-cost calculator with Alabama selected — it adds the bond premium, insurance class, screening and the payroll runway your first hires create.
This page is information, not legal advice. Confirm before you file: the agency — not this page — decides your application.
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
