State Medicaid home health licensing and certification.

This study collected and analyzed data on the number of licensed and certified home health care agencies and licensed home care/personal care agencies in the US. The study also examined the state laws and regulations pertaining to Medicaid home health agency requirements. There were 14,045 licensed home health agencies and 801 other licensed home care or personal care agencies in the US, but only 59 percent of these agencies were certified in 1998. The percent of certified agencies ranged from 22 percent in Maryland to 100 percent in ten states that only allowed certified agencies to provide home care. There was a wide range in the number of agencies in states with the average being 6.1 agencies per 100,000 population. The 41 states with state licensing of home health agencies had a wide range of policies but most were more lenient than the federal Medicare certification requirements.