50-State Regulatory Atlas Massachusetts
State licensing summary
Massachusetts: healthcare licensing and regulation
Massachusetts: state license; branch rule not confirmed; no certificate of need; compact enacted, not yet implemented. Regulator: Massachusetts Department of Public Health.
Educational summary, last reviewed October 17, 2026. Not legal advice — confirm with the state licensing agency or counsel.
13 findings: 6 provisional, 7 verified. How findings are sourced and labelled.
At a glance
- License
- Confirm with the state agencyProvisional
- Regulator
- Massachusetts Department of Public Health
- Branch offices
- State license; branch rule not confirmedProvisional
- Certificate of need
- No certificate of needVerified
- Service area
- Confirm with the state agencyProvisional
- In-state office
- See out-of-state rules below
- Medicare certification
- Separate federal step, only for agencies that bill MedicareVerified
Home health licensing
State license
ProvisionalA licensure statute exists (M.G.L. c. 111 § 51K: three-year license; a Medicare- or Medicaid-certified agency is deemed to meet the initial application). Implementing regulations and a start date were not found, so whether licensing operates in practice: Confirm with the state agency
In practice: Hold the authority the state requires before the first patient is admitted there, and keep its number, category and expiry with the office it covers.
Source: M.G.L. c. 111 § 51K
Certificate of need
VerifiedNo. The statute has no need determination.
In practice: No certificate of need step for home health.
Source: M.G.L. c. 111 § 51K
Branch offices
ProvisionalConfirm with the state agency Not established in this review.
In practice: Track each office’s authority on its own where the state licenses offices separately, and with the parent where it lists them.
Source: M.G.L. c. 111 § 51K
Service area
ProvisionalConfirm with the state agency Not established in this review.
In practice: Check the patient’s address against the approved service area before accepting a referral.
Source: M.G.L. c. 111 § 51K
Out-of-state agencies
ProvisionalConfirm with the state agency Not established in this review.
In practice: A license in one state does not authorize care in another; the patient’s state decides.
Source: M.G.L. c. 111 § 51K
Accreditation in place of a state survey
ProvisionalA Medicare- or Medicaid-certified agency is deemed to meet the initial licensure application (M.G.L. c. 111 §51K); implementing regulations were not found.
In practice: The state usually keeps its complaint authority.
Source: M.G.L. c. 111 §51K
Home infusion nursing
Home infusion nursing
ProvisionalConfirm with the state agency Not established in this review.
In practice: Confirm the license category before staffing infusion visits in this state.
Source: M.G.L. c. 111 § 51K
Staffing and nurse licensure
Nurse licensure (compact)
VerifiedMassachusetts enacted the Nurse Licensure Compact (signed November 2024), but it is not yet in effect: the Board of Registration in Nursing says the compact “is not in effect in Massachusetts until implementation is complete”. Until then, nurses holding a multistate license from another compact state need a Massachusetts license to practice here, and the Board is not yet taking multistate applications. The Board received conditional FBI approval for background checks in May 2026 and is targeting implementation for May 2027.
In practice: Check each nurse’s license against the patient’s state, not the agency’s.
Time-sensitive. May 2027 is the Board’s target, not a set date; recheck the Board’s NLC page before relying on a multistate license in Massachusetts.
Source: Massachusetts Board of Registration in Nursing: The Nurse Licensure Compact (NLC)NCSBN Nurse Licensure Compact map
Temporary nursing service agencies register with the Department of Public Health (M.G.L. c. 111 § 72Y; 105 CMR 157.000), which sets administrator and personnel requirements.
In practice: Registration can be denied or revoked for charging above the maximum rates.
Source: 105 CMR 157.000
Maximum rates
VerifiedMaximum hourly rates that providers pay registered temporary nursing agencies are set by health service area, with holiday rates capped at 150% of the standard maximum (101 CMR 345.00). Billing above the cap is an unfair or deceptive practice.
In practice: Check the current figures for each health service area before quoting a rate.
State coverage for healthcare staffing is partial; more states are being reviewed.
Medicare, hospice and VA programs in this state
Massachusetts is not one of the six states in CMS’s Review Choice Demonstration for home health (Illinois, Ohio, Texas, North Carolina, Florida, Oklahoma).
Source: CMS: Review Choice Demonstration for Home Health Services
Massachusetts is not one of the six states (Arizona, California, Nevada, Texas, Georgia, Ohio) where CMS applies its provisional period of enhanced oversight to newly enrolling hospices.
Source: CMS Medical Review: Hospice
VA Community Care Network region
VerifiedMassachusetts is in Community Care Network Region 1, administered by Optum. Agencies join by contracting with the regional third-party administrator, not with VA. VA has re-procured the network as CCN Next Generation with two regions, East and West; which administrator serves which region from 2027 was not announced in the sources reviewed.
Time-sensitive. Region assignments change with CCN Next Generation; recheck VA’s announcements during 2027.
Source: VA: Community Care Network
Federal rules that apply in every state
Medicare certification
VerifiedMedicare certification under the home health Conditions of Participation (42 CFR Part 484) is a federal step for agencies that bill Medicare home health. It is separate from the state license. Where a state ties entry to certification, that state’s findings say so.
In practice: A branch serving a portion of the parent’s area is supervised and administered by the parent agency (42 CFR 484.2).
Source: 42 CFR 484.2
For a Medicare-certified agency, “its personnel must be qualified in all States in which they provide services” (State Operations Manual § 2184).
In practice: Nurse licensure follows the patient’s state.
Medicare’s home infusion therapy benefit is a separate Part B supplier benefit, not a home health benefit. It pays an accredited, qualified home infusion therapy supplier for professional services tied to specific parenteral drugs given through a pump that is durable medical equipment (42 CFR Part 486, Subpart I).
In practice: Most pharmacy-dispensed home infusion is not billable under this benefit; nursing for those patients is usually paid by other payers or under contract.
Compared with Texas
Three-year term in statute, like Texas. Massachusetts has enacted the Nurse Licensure Compact but not yet implemented it.
Other service lines
State rules for these lines are being added to the guide: Medicare home health, Medicare home infusion therapy benefit, Infusion pharmacy, Hospice, Private duty nursing, Personal care and Medicaid HCBS, VA community care, Infusion suites.
Look up a licensed provider
- Licensed or certified health care facilities ProvisionalMassachusetts DPH, Bureau of Health Care Safety and Quality, Division of Health Care Facility Licensure & Certification
Monthly downloadable lists of licensed or certified health care facilities.
National lookups
- Medicare Care Compare — Home health
Medicare-certified home health agencies with quality ratings and services offered.
- Medicare Care Compare — Hospice
Medicare-certified hospices with quality measures.
- CMS Provider Data Catalog — Home Health Care Agencies (6jpm-sxkc)
All Medicare-registered home health agencies with CCN, address, ownership, services, certification date and quality measures, as CSV and an unauthenticated API.
- CMS Provider Data Catalog — Hospice – General Information (yc9t-dgbk)
Medicare-certified hospices with CCN, address, county, ownership type and certification date, as CSV and an unauthenticated API.
- CMS QCOR — HHA 2567 Statements of Deficiencies
Federal survey statements of deficiencies for home health agencies, filterable by state, survey type, tag and CCN, with a full-dataset XLSX download.
- CMS QCOR — Hospice 2567s
Federal survey statements of deficiencies for hospices.
- NPPES NPI Registry
National Provider Identifier records with addresses, authorized official and taxonomies, with a public API.
- HHS-OIG List of Excluded Individuals/Entities (LEIE)
Individuals and entities excluded from federal health care programs, with a monthly downloadable database.
- SAM.gov Exclusions
Federal exclusion records across agencies.
- Nursys QuickConfirm
Nurse license status, discipline / board-issued alerts and expiry, free to employers and the public.
Associations
- Home Care Alliance of Massachusetts (HCA)home health, hospice
A non-profit trade association for Massachusetts home care and hospice providers.
- Hospice & Palliative Care Federation of Massachusetts (HPCFM)hospice, palliative care
Advocates for members and offers an annual conference, webinars and a semi-monthly regulatory update.
- Home Care Aide Council (Massachusetts Council for Home Care Aide Services)home care (private duty and personal care), Medicaid HCBS
A nonprofit trade association founded in 1967 to promote home care aide services, focused on the aide workforce.
Official sources
About this guide. Published and maintained by Paloma Health Technologies; Findings are cited to official sources, dated and status-labelled; see the editorial policy. Educational summary, last reviewed October 17, 2026. Not legal advice — confirm with the state licensing agency or counsel.