CMS imposes 6-month hospice & home health enrollment moratorium

CMS implemented a six-month moratorium on hospice and home health enrollment on Wednesday, temporarily halting new providers from joining Medicare.

The move was coordinated with a federal anti-fraud task force established in March and led by Vice President J.D. Vance. The task force has broad support from federal agencies, including the Department of Justice, which formally joined the effort in May.

The moratorium is the latest in a series of escalating enforcement actions aimed at curbing fraud, waste, and abuse in the Medicare hospice program. CMS framed it explicitly as a measure to stop new bad actors from entering the program while investigators work to identify and remove those already inside it.

Who it affects

The pause applies to new provider enrollments only.

Hospices and home health agencies that are already enrolled and actively billing Medicare are not directly impacted by the moratorium itself. However, for established providers, the moratorium represents a signal that the regulatory posture is becoming meaningfully more aggressive. As multiple federal agencies actively coordinate on enforcement, providers should be sure to consider their compliance and quality assurance programs carefully to get ahead of possible risk.

The strategic takeaway

The moratorium is aimed squarely at fraudulent actors — not compliant providers.

That said, the enforcement environment raises the stakes for everyone. Agencies with clean documentation and audit-ready records are well positioned to withstand heightened scrutiny from regulators and potential families weighing care options. Those with documentation gaps should treat this moment as a prompt to close them.

The agencies that will navigate this period best are the ones that can demonstrate, clearly and quickly, that they are compliant. Brellium gives hospices the automated pre-billing review and documentation confidence that turns compliance from a reactive scramble into a competitive advantage.

In an environment where the margin for error is this narrow, that's exactly where you want to be. See why industry leaders including Gentle Partners and Gentiva trust us to keep them audit ready. Reach out today to book a demo and learn how we can help.