Washington · Checked October 22, 2026
Your license is the In-Home Services Agency License — Home Care service category, issued by Washington State Department of Health.
| Item | Washington |
|---|---|
| License / registration | In-Home Services Agency License — Home Care service category |
| Issued by | Washington State Department of Health — official page |
| Application / initial fee | $5,000 — Initial 12-month license fee of $5,000 for EACH service category (home care, home health, hospice), WAC 246-335-990(1) as amended by WSR 26-04-110, effective June 1, 2026 (up from $3,283 under the prior rule). Adding a new service category later costs another $5,000 (WAC 246-335-990(2)). |
| Renewal | $2,400 |
| Surety bond | No state bond minimum found in the published rules |
| Liability insurance | State sets no minimum |
| Timeline | State does not publish a processing time in the fee rule; every first-time applicant must first complete the free DOH in-home services orientation class (about 4 hours, online) and file the certificate of completion with the application or it will not be processed (WAC 246-335-320(1), per DOH) |
| Administrator | The application must name an administrator and, for the home care category, a supervisor of direct care services, each subject to a disclosure statement and criminal history background check (DOH In-Home Services License Application Packet). Care is delivered by credentialed home care aides; client-directed care is a different lane — clients who hire their own caregiver use an Individual Provider employed by Consumer Direct Care Network Washington (the consumer directed employer), which is not an agency license. |
| State extras | County surcharge: $500 per additional urban county / $100 per additional rural county of operation; $500 change-of-ownership fee per category; DOH may charge $5,000 for follow-up/complaint/extra survey visits; late renewal fee $50/day capped at $1,000 (all WAC 246-335-990). |
| 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 |
The home care category is the non-skilled category (personal care and household help). It does not authorize skilled nursing/therapy — that is the separate home health service category on the in-home services license, charged and approved separately.
Home health is a separate service category under the same In-Home Services Agency license framework: +$5,000 initial per category and its own FTE-based renewal (e.g. $5,100 standard at 5 or fewer FTEs). Medicare-certified home health is additionally subject to Certificate of Need review in Washington for applicable counties/projects — confirm current CON applicability with DOH before planning a Medicare home health launch.
Fee rule change effective June 1, 2026 (WSR 26-04-110, filed 2/3/26): initial fee rose from $3,283 to $5,000 per service category, renewal tables were raised, a county surcharge was added ($500 per additional urban county, $100 per additional rural county; first county free), and the minimum assumed FTEs rose from 1 to 2.
Enroll with the Washington State Health Care Authority in ProviderOne for Apple Health (Medicaid) billing; long-term personal care authorizations run through DSHS Aging and Long-Term Support Administration (ALTSA) / Home and Community Services and Area Agencies on Aging (COPES waiver, Community First Choice)
Washington uses a Provider Choice EVV model: the agency picks its own EVV system meeting DSHS requirements and submits EVV data with claims to ProviderOne (DSHS EVV page). Agency employees must use EVV even if live-in; the live-in exemption applies only to individual providers.
The state fee above is one line of the real total. Run the true-cost calculator with Washington 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
