Idaho · Checked October 22, 2026
Non-medical home care is not state-licensed in Idaho — but the lanes around it are regulated, and the skilled door is a different license.
Checked in part. No-license finding for non-medical care is by absence: Title 39 licenses home health agencies only, and DHW routes personal care agencies through Medicaid enrollment (Personal Assistance Agency), not licensure. No primary source states the no-license rule in one sentence, and no home health license fee is published in the sources reviewed — both are marked honestly here. 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 | Idaho |
|---|---|
| License / registration | No state license for a non-medical / personal care agency. Idaho licenses only Home Health Agencies (Idaho Code § 39-2403, Title 39, Chapter 24). Non-medical agencies that want Medicaid work operate as Personal Assistance Agencies (PAA) through Medicaid provider enrollment, not licensure. |
| Issued by | Idaho Department of Health and Welfare (DHW) — Bureau of Facility Standards for home health licensure; Division of Medicaid / Bureau of Long Term Care (BLTC) for Personal Assistance Agency enrollment — official page |
| Application / initial fee | Not published — No license fee for non-medical agencies (no license exists). No published state licensure fee for home health agencies was found on DHW's home health page or in Idaho Code Chapter 24 — not published, do not invent one. |
| Renewal | Not published / not applicable for the non-medical lane. |
| Surety bond | No state bond minimum found in the published rules |
| Liability insurance | State sets no minimum |
| Timeline | State does not publish a processing time |
| Administrator | No state administrator qualification is published for private-pay non-medical agencies. Medicaid Personal Assistance Agency applicants must complete the Prospective HCBS Provider Toolkit and be trained by a DHW Quality Assurance Specialist before application approval and before providing Aged & Disabled Waiver or State Plan Personal Care Services (DHW BLTC enrollment page). |
| State extras | Medicaid enrollment route: DHW Background Check Unit registration and criminal history clearances for all employees working with participants; no state enrollment fee was published on the DHW pages reviewed. |
| Service | Under this license |
|---|---|
| Companionship & supervision | Covered |
| Homemaker help | Covered |
| Hands-on personal care | Covered |
| Live-in / 24-hour care | Not covered by this license |
| Transportation | Not covered by this license |
| Skilled nursing or therapy | Home health license required |
Coverage shown is the Medicaid service vocabulary for the lane, not a licensed scope: State Plan Personal Care Services = grooming, bathing, toileting, dressing, food/nutrition and incidental housekeeping; Aged & Disabled Waiver adds attendant care, chore, companion services, homemaker, respite and non-medical transportation (DHW BLTC page). A private-pay agency may offer these without a state license; it may not hold itself out as a home health agency without a § 39-2403 license. Live-in is not a named category in the sources reviewed.
Idaho Code § 39-2403: after Jan. 1, 1993 no agency may advertise, operate or hold itself out as a home health agency unless licensed by DHW; DHW may grant licenses without a licensure survey to Medicare-certified or recognized-accredited agencies. Note the 2025 Streamlined Facilities Licensing Act provision at § 39-1303(8) stating Medicare-certified hospice and home health agencies are not required to be licensed or certified under that (facilities) chapter — Chapter 24 licensure text was still published by the Legislature when checked.
2025 Streamlined Facilities Licensing Act (Idaho Code § 39-1303(8)) exempts Medicare-certified home health agencies from licensure/certification under the new facilities chapter while Chapter 24 (§ 39-2403) licensure language remains on the Legislature's site — the interaction of the two chapters should be rechecked at launch.
Become a Personal Assistance Agency: complete the Prospective HCBS Provider Toolkit as part of Medicaid provider enrollment with DHW's enrollment vendor (Gainwell, via idmedicaid.com trading partner account), get QA Specialist training before approval, then deliver State Plan PCS and/or Aged & Disabled Waiver services overseen by the Bureau of Long Term Care.
EVV is required for Medicaid personal care services under the federal 21st Century Cures Act as implemented by Idaho Medicaid.
The state fee above is one line of the real total. Run the true-cost calculator with Idaho 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
