Massachusetts · Checked October 22, 2026
Non-medical home care is not state-licensed in Massachusetts — but the lanes around it are regulated, and the skilled door is a different license.
| Item | Massachusetts |
|---|---|
| License / registration | No state home care agency license (no license or registration for agencies that directly employ their workers) |
| Issued by | Massachusetts Department of Labor Standards (DLS) — employment/placement agencies; Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) — Medicare certification only — official page |
| Application / initial fee | Not published — No fee — there is no home care license to apply for. DLS states at 454 CMR 24.00 (Dec. 19, 2014) it no longer requires licensure or registration of agencies that directly employ workers to perform services of a domestic nature, and that it never issued a 'home care license.' |
| Renewal | Not applicable — no license/registration to renew for the direct-employ model. |
| Surety bond | No state bond minimum found in the published rules |
| Liability insurance | State sets no minimum |
| Timeline | Not published — no license application exists to process |
| Administrator | No state administrator qualification for a non-medical home care agency; DLS regulates only agencies that place or refer domestic employees, not agencies that employ them. |
| State extras | No state license fee. Ordinary employer costs only (workers' compensation, CORI checks where a program contract requires them, program-contract requirements if serving MassHealth/ASAP clients). |
| 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) |
Placement/referral model is different: an agency that places or refers domestic employees (paid directly by the household) must hold a DLS employment agency license or placement agency registration. Licensed medical professionals are outside the domestic-employee definition.
DPH states it does not license home health agencies. A home health agency may only become certified to participate in Medicare/Medicaid, and MassHealth enrollment requires Medicare certification first.
MassHealth: home health enrollment requires prior Medicare certification (DPH/CMS); personal care is mainly the consumer-directed PCA Program, and agency-based home care is delivered under EOEA/ASAP Home Care and HCBS waiver contracts (Frail Elder Waiver etc.)
MassHealth EVV page lists agency-based providers incl. Home Health, PCA Program, Frail Elder Waiver and non-waiver State Home Care as EVV-required; state Sandata system or Alt-EVV aggregator.
The state fee above is one line of the real total. Run the true-cost calculator with Massachusetts 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
