Guide · Requirements by state
License: Home and Community Support Services Agency (HCSSA) License — Personal Assistance Services category, issued by Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC). State fee: $2,625 — Initial license fee for a parent agency or branch, for a three-year license (26 TAC §558.3 / HHSC HCSSA fee schedule). An alternate delivery site is cheaper ($1,500 initial per HHSC's schedule).. Renewal: $2,625. Bond: no state minimum in the published rules. Administrator: For a Personal Assistance Services-only agency, the administrator (and alternate) must have a high school diploma or GED plus at least 1 year of experience or training caring for individuals with functional disabilities, OR 2 years of full-time study at an accredited college/university in a health-related field, OR meet the higher qualifications in 26 TAC §558.244(a). No supervising nurse is required for a PAS-only agency.
The PAS category covers personal care and related household/escort tasks performed by unlicensed attendants. It does not authorize skilled nursing, therapy or hospice — those need their own category on the same HCSSA license (and, for the certified category, Medicare certification). The full service-by-service table is on the Texas state page — check your marketing against it before you print anything.
Published timeline: HHSC does not publish a standard processing-time estimate for initial HCSSA licenses. The administrator and alternate administrator must complete HHSC's free Presurvey Training before applying, and an initial licensure survey follows after the agency admits its first client(s) (no later than 6 months after the license effective date).. And if Medicaid clients are part of the plan: Enroll with Texas Medicaid through TMHP (Texas Medicaid & Healthcare Partnership), then contract with HHSC for fee-for-service programs (Primary Home Care, Community Attendant Services, Family Care) and/or with STAR+PLUS managed care organizations for personal attendant / Community First Choice services. Enrollment is a second application, on its own clock, after the license exists.
Requirements lists are static; your services are specific. The verdict checker applies Texas's rules to your exact service mix and payer lane, and prints the confirm-before-you-file citation with the verdict.
Dataset pages behind this guide: Texas state page · the full 50-state dataset (checked October 22, 2026).
Guides are general; verdicts are specific. The license checker applies your state's rules to your service mix, and the cost calculator prices your opening from the same dataset this guide cites.
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.
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