Wisconsin · Checked October 22, 2026
Non-medical home care is not state-licensed in Wisconsin — but the lanes around it are regulated, and the skilled door is a different license.
Checked in part. The structure is primary-verified: DHS regulates PCAs only as a Medicaid certification (DHS 105.17) and licenses home health agencies separately; supportive home care is defined in rule as non-nursing services with no DHS license attached. DHS publishes no sentence saying 'no license is required' in so many words — the 'none' model rests on the absence of any supportive-home-care license in the DQA program list combined with the DHS 73 definition, so it is marked partial, not primary. Anything the state does not publish is printed as "Not published" below — never filled from blogs or consultancy tables. Confirm on the agency page before you budget.
| Item | Wisconsin |
|---|---|
| License / registration | No state license for private-pay non-medical home care (Supportive Home Care); Medicaid Personal Care Agency certification under Wis. Admin. Code DHS 105.17 is the regulated lane |
| Issued by | Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS), Division of Quality Assurance (DQA) — for Medicaid PCA certification and for Home Health Agency licensure only — official page |
| Application / initial fee | Not published — The state does not publish a license fee because there is no license to buy for a private-pay supportive home care agency. DHS DQA likewise publishes no application fee on its Personal Care Agency certification page — PCA certification is a Medicaid provider certification (survey-based), not a fee-priced license; any figure quoted elsewhere should be treated as unverified until DQA confirms one. |
| Renewal | No license, so no renewal fee for private-pay supportive home care. (For comparison, the separate Home Health Agency license is priced: $300 one-time provisional application fee, then annual fees of 0.25% of patient annual fees, $500-$2,500 — DHS DQA.) |
| Surety bond | No state bond minimum found in the published rules |
| Liability insurance | State sets no minimum |
| Timeline | No license application exists for private-pay supportive home care. Medicaid PCA certification is a 3-step DHS process: (1) PCA application via the DHS DQA Provider Portal, (2) successful DQA survey against DHS 105.17 and DHS 107.112, (3) Medicaid enrollment to be reimbursed (per DHS) |
| Administrator | No state administrator qualification applies to a private-pay supportive home care agency. A Medicaid-certified freestanding personal care agency must meet DHS 105.17 fit-and-qualified requirements for its principals (owners/administrators/managers), present a proposal and written plan of operation, and demonstrate staff knowledge, training and experience with the client groups served. |
| State extras | Business formation only for the private-pay lane (Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions entity registration, EIN, local requirements) plus caregiver background checks through the Wisconsin caregiver background check program; Medicaid lane adds DQA survey readiness under DHS 105.17. |
| 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 | Covered |
| Skilled nursing or therapy | Home health license required |
Supportive home care is by definition services EXCEPT nursing care (Wis. Admin. Code DHS 73.03(17)): help with daily living needs, social contact and well-being in the client's own home. The no-license position covers private-pay work; it does not authorize skilled nursing/therapy (that is a licensed Home Health Agency under s. 50.49 / DHS 133), and hands-on personal care billed to Medicaid requires PCA certification first.
Home Health Agency license under Wis. Stat. s. 50.49 and Wis. Admin. Code ch. DHS 133, issued by DHS DQA: 90-day provisional license ($300 one-time application fee, renewable in 90-day terms up to 1 year), then a continuation license with annual fees of 0.25% of patient annual fees ($500 minimum, $2,500 maximum).
Two steps: DHS DQA certification as a Personal Care Agency under DHS 105.17 (includes a DQA survey), then Wisconsin Medicaid (ForwardHealth) provider enrollment to bill personal care (DHS 107.112); supportive home care for waiver members is also delivered under Family Care / Family Care Partnership / IRIS through Managed Care Organizations
Wisconsin DHS requires EVV for Medicaid personal care and supportive home care services. Verify the current DHS EVV service list before billing.
The state fee above is one line of the real total. Run the true-cost calculator with Wisconsin 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
