Texas · Checked October 22, 2026
Your license is the Home and Community Support Services Agency (HCSSA) License — Personal Assistance Services category, issued by Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC).
| Item | Texas |
|---|---|
| License / registration | Home and Community Support Services Agency (HCSSA) License — Personal Assistance Services category |
| Issued by | Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) — official page |
| Application / initial 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 |
| Surety bond | No state bond minimum found in the published rules |
| Liability insurance | State sets no minimum |
| 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). |
| 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. |
| State extras | $30 standard fee when reporting most changes to the HHSC HCSSA Licensure Unit, plus a $100 late fee if a change is reported late (HHSC fee schedule). Criminal-history/background checks on owners, administrators and controlling persons are part of the application. |
| 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 | Covered — same license |
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).
Same license, different category. 26 TAC §558.13 lists six licensure categories: (1) licensed and certified home health, (2) licensed and certified home health with home dialysis designation, (3) licensed home health, (4) licensed home health with home dialysis designation, (5) hospice, (6) personal assistance services. One license can hold multiple categories; no certificate-of-need or need test in Texas.
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.
EVV required for Medicaid personal care services since Jan 1, 2021 and home health care services since Jan 1, 2024. State-funded EVV system is HHAeXchange (since Oct 1, 2023), or an HHSC-approved proprietary system; visit data flows to the TMHP EVV Aggregator.
The state fee above is one line of the real total. Run the true-cost calculator with Texas 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
