CMS Freezes Home Health and Hospice Enrollment

On May 13, 2026, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) implemented a nationwide, six-month moratorium (see here) on new Medicare enrollment for home health agencies (HHAs) and hospice providers, effective immediately. The moratorium represents a significant expansion of CMS’s program integrity efforts and follows earlier 2026 action targeting certain durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics, and supplies (DMEPOS) suppliers. CMS imposed the moratorium under its authority to suspend enrollment of new providers when it determines there is a heightened risk of fraud, waste, and abuse, and has indicated that such risks have been increasing in the home health and hospice sectors over several years. CMS announced that recent action, undertaken in coordination with Vice President JD Vance’s Anti-Fraud Task Force, has included the suspension of payments to approximately 800 hospices and HHAs suspected of fraud in Los Angeles alone that were responsible for $1.4 billion in Medicare spending last year, with $70 million in suspended funds thus far.

During the moratorium, CMS indicated it will intensify anti-fraud efforts by:

• Intensified targeted investigations;
• Deploying advanced data analytics; and
• Accelerating the removal of hospice and HHA providers from the Medicare program that are suspected of committing fraud.

The moratorium applies to all applications for initial Medicare enrollment, as well as certain changes in majority ownership. In particular, an HHA or hospice that undergoes a change in majority ownership (CIMO) within 36 months of its initial enrollment, or its most recent CIMO, must enroll in Medicare as a new provider and obtain a new survey or accreditation. As a result, unless a regulatory exception applies (for example, due to the prior owner’s death), the CIMO terminates the provider’s existing enrollment and requires the entity to re-enroll as a new provider.

Because the moratorium prohibits initial enrollments, any transaction that triggers this re-enrollment requirement falls within the scope of the moratorium. In effect, a transaction involving an HHA or hospice provider that requires issuance of a new Medicare provider number or entry into a new provider agreement will be treated as a new enrollment and will be denied during the moratorium period. Accordingly, transaction structures that require new Medicare enrollment are not viable while the moratorium remains in effect.  CMS’ regulations do not permit exceptions to a moratorium for individual providers or suppliers.

The moratorium does not apply to current enrollments and newly enrolling HHA and hospice agencies that submitted their Medicare applications prior to May 13, 2026. It also does not apply to changes in practice locations, changes to enrollment information (e.g., phone number), and some changes in ownership.

Baird Holm will continue to monitor CMS guidance and enforcement activity related to the moratorium.