The short answer New Mexico's home health licensure moved to the Health Care Authority in 2024 (8.370.22 NMAC replaced the old DOH rule); non-medical personal care is regulated mainly through Medicaid program rules and the Caregivers Criminal History Screening Act.
What New Mexico requires
New Mexico
2024 agency transfer. Effective July 1, 2024, home health agency regulation transferred from the Department of Health to the New Mexico Health Care Authority, Division of Health Improvement — 7.28.2 NMAC was repealed and replaced by 8.370.22 NMAC.
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Home health license. Home health agencies (including those deploying homemaker/personal care aides) are licensed under 8.370.22 NMAC, with staff licensure/certification verification and a 40-hour training standard for homemaker-personal care aides.
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Non-medical segment. Stand-alone private-pay personal care has no separate license category; agencies in Medicaid personal care services (now under Turquoise Care managed care) follow HCA program rules, and all providers are subject to the Caregivers Criminal History Screening Act (NMSA § 29-17-1 et seq.).
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Surveys. The Division of Health Improvement conducts licensure surveys, incident management oversight, and complaint investigations, and serves as the CMS survey agency for certified home health.
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The federal baseline (applies in every state)
Federal
No federal home care license. There is no federal license for home care or home health agencies. Licensure is a state function: each state (and DC) decides whether and how to license home health agencies and non-medical personal care/companion agencies, so requirements vary dramatically by jurisdiction.
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Medicare certification (42 CFR Part 484). Agencies that bill Medicare for skilled home health must be certified as meeting the Medicare Conditions of Participation at 42 CFR Part 484 (patient rights, comprehensive assessment, QAPI, skilled professional services, home health aide standards, and more), on top of any state license.
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Accreditation with deemed status. Most new Medicare home health agencies obtain certification through a CMS-approved accrediting organization with deeming authority — ACHC, CHAP, or The Joint Commission — whose surveys substitute for the state agency's Medicare certification survey.
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State survey agencies enforce both. State survey agencies (usually the state health department) operate under agreements with CMS to survey Medicare-certified agencies, and most also run the state licensure survey program — initial surveys, renewal/recertification surveys, complaint investigations, and plan-of-correction enforcement per the CMS State Operations Manual.
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