Kentucky · Checked October 22, 2026
Non-medical home care is not state-licensed in Kentucky — but the lanes around it are regulated, and the skilled door is a different license.
Checked in part. Absence claim per task instruction: closest primary statements are the OIG fee/licensure schedule (902 KAR 20:008) and OIG licensed-type lists, which contain home health and private duty nursing but no non-medical/personal care agency category; no primary source states the absence in one sentence, so marked partial. 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 | Kentucky |
|---|---|
| License / registration | No state license for non-medical (private-pay) home care / personal care agencies |
| Issued by | Cabinet for Health and Family Services, Office of Inspector General (licenses health facilities/services — no non-medical home care category); Department for Medicaid Services (waiver provider certification/enrollment) — official page |
| Application / initial fee | Not published — No fee — no license exists for the non-medical lane. The $500 figure in 902 KAR 20:008 is the PRIVATE DUTY NURSING agency (skilled nursing) fee, and the home health agency fee is in the same schedule; neither is a non-medical personal care license. |
| Renewal | Not applicable to non-medical private pay. |
| Surety bond | No state bond minimum found in the published rules |
| Liability insurance | State sets no minimum for non-medical personal care agencies |
| Timeline | Not published — no license application for the non-medical lane |
| Administrator | No state administrator requirement for a non-medical personal care agency. Licensed categories do impose administrators (e.g., private duty nursing agency must designate an administrator for daily operation, 902 KAR 20:370) — that requirement does not extend to unlicensed non-medical care. |
| State extras | For Medicaid waiver work only: provider certification/enrollment, background checks and registry checks required of waiver providers. 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 required |
What IS licensed in Kentucky is the clinical lane: home health agencies (902 KAR 20:081, services under a physician/APRN/PA plan of care) and private duty nursing agencies (902 KAR 20:370, RN/LPN nursing only). A 1998 bill (HB 93) proposed licensure of nonmedical home care agencies with a $100 registration fee — it appears in the legislative record as a proposal, and no such category appears in the current OIG fee schedule (902 KAR 20:008).
Home health agency license via OIG under 902 KAR 20:008 (application for a Home Health Agency / Non-residential Hospice / Private Duty Nursing Agency) and 902 KAR 20:081; private duty nursing agency license fee is $500 in the same schedule.
No license needed, but Medicaid HCBS work requires becoming a certified waiver provider and enrolling with the Department for Medicaid Services (907 KAR 1:672 enrollment; 907 KAR 7:005 certification of 1915(c) waiver providers) for the Home and Community Based (HCB) waiver, Michelle P. waiver etc., which cover personal care, homemaker and attendant care services
Kentucky EVV page not captured in this pass; marked null.
The state fee above is one line of the real total. Run the true-cost calculator with Kentucky 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
