New Jersey · Checked October 22, 2026
Your license is the Health Care Service Firm Registration, issued by New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs, Regulated Business Section.
| Item | New Jersey |
|---|---|
| License / registration | Health Care Service Firm Registration |
| Issued by | New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs, Regulated Business Section — official page |
| Application / initial fee | $500 — Annual registration fee of $500 for each primary location — N.J.A.C. 13:45B-7.1 fee schedule ('Health care service firm annual registration, each primary location — $500.00'). |
| Renewal | $500 |
| Surety bond | $10,000 — Bond of $10,000 to secure compliance with the Act — N.J.A.C. 13:45B-13.3(a)3. The Director may waive the bond for a firm with a net worth of $100,000 or more, proven by a certified financial report from a CPA/licensed accountant. |
| Liability insurance | State sets no minimum |
| Timeline | The Division publishes no processing-time guarantee in N.J.A.C. 13:45B-13; applications go through the Division's Regulated Business online registration portal. |
| Administrator | No owner/administrator degree requirement in the registration rule. Each officer, director, principal and owner must file a certification about criminal convictions (N.J.S.A. 34:8-44), and the firm must designate/employ a health care practitioner supervisor — the Division's application instructions require a copy of the New Jersey license of the Health Care Practitioner Supervisor, Registered Nurse or Licensed Physician employed by the agency. |
| State extras | Accreditation fees (paid to the accrediting body, market-priced — the state does not publish an amount), triennial audit costs for larger/Medicaid-heavy firms under 13:45B-13.5A (currently partly suspended, see gates), and criminal-history certifications for all principals. |
| Service | Under this license |
|---|---|
| Companionship & supervision | Covered |
| Homemaker help | Covered |
| Hands-on personal care | Covered |
| Live-in / 24-hour care | Not covered by this license |
| Transportation | Not covered by this license |
| Skilled nursing or therapy | Home health license required |
Registration covers a firm that employs individuals to provide health care, personal care or companion services in the home (companion services may include household chores). It is a registration under employment-agency law, not a health-facility license: firms may only provide hands-on care through appropriately licensed/certified personnel (e.g., certified homemaker-health aides supervised by an RN), and licensed home health agencies/hospices regulated by the Department of Health sit outside this registration.
Skilled home health is a separate lane: Home Health Agency licensure by the New Jersey Department of Health (health facilities licensing), distinct from the Consumer Affairs Health Care Service Firm registration that covers the non-medical/personal-care agency model.
Accreditation gate at renewal: under N.J.A.C. 13:45B-13.5(b), starting with the first renewal after the rule amendment, a health care service firm must show it is accredited by a Department of Human Services-recognized accrediting body — in practice, accreditation must be obtained within 12 months of initial registration; a firm registered less than 12 months before its first renewal is excused at that first renewal. Loss of accreditation must be reported to the Division within 10 days.
Financial-reporting change in 2026: P.L. 2026, c.45 (signed July 22, 2026) modified Health Care Service Firm financial reporting, and the Division has suspended the audit/enhanced reporting duties in N.J.A.C. 13:45B-13.5A(b)-(e) while it updates its regulations. (Reported by law-firm analyses of the Division's action; flagged for re-verification on the Division site before launch.)
Register with NJ Medicaid (NJMMIS) as a provider and deliver Personal Care Assistant (PCA) services largely through NJ FamilyCare managed long-term services and supports (MLTSS) managed care organizations. Accreditation ties into this lane: the accrediting body must be one recognized by the Department of Human Services for homemaker agencies in the Medicaid program (N.J.A.C. 10:60-1.2, referenced in 13:45B-13.5).
New Jersey Medicaid EVV for personal care services runs through HHAeXchange (state's EVV aggregator arrangement); provider-choice systems must integrate with it.
The state fee above is one line of the real total. Run the true-cost calculator with New Jersey 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
