What 42 CFR 424.570 says happens if CMS does not extend the home health and hospice enrollment moratorium

Short answer: Under 42 CFR 424.570(b), a moratorium lasts six months and may be extended in six-month increments by Federal Register notice. CMS may also lift one early. The May 15 notices imposing nationwide HHA and hospice freezes effective May 13 print no end date; about Nov. 13 is six months by arithmetic. This page does not predict CMS's next step.

Key facts (as of Nov. 11, 2026, morning) - The rule: 42 CFR 424.570(b) says a moratorium "may be imposed for a period of 6 months and, if deemed necessary by CMS, may be extended in 6-month increments." CMS "will publish a document in the Federal Register when it extends a moratorium." - The start: FR 2026-09717 (home health agencies) and FR 2026-09718 (hospices), published May 15, 2026, are effective May 13, 2026. Neither notice prints a calendar end date. - About Nov. 13 is six months from May 13 by arithmetic. It is not a date the notices themselves print. - Wednesday check (Nov. 11, about 6:55 a.m. CT): no extension or lift notice has been published or placed on public inspection. The only Federal Register hit for "moratorium hospice" since Nov. 1 is the CY 2027 home health final rule, which is not an extension. That is a bounded search, not an exhaustive guarantee.

This page explains the regulation. It is not a prediction that CMS will extend, lift or let the freeze lapse. Our existing moratorium tracker remains the running status page.

What does 42 CFR 424.570 say about duration and extension?

The eCFR text of 42 CFR 424.570, displayed as up to date as of Nov. 5, 2026, is titled "Moratoria on newly enrolling Medicare providers and suppliers."

Paragraph (b), "Duration of moratoria," says: "A moratorium under this section may be imposed for a period of 6 months and, if deemed necessary by CMS, may be extended in 6-month increments. CMS will publish a document in the Federal Register when it extends a moratorium."

That is the extension path the rule provides: six-month steps, announced in the Federal Register. The section does not describe a silent or informal extension.

Paragraph (d), "Lifting moratoria," says CMS "will publish a document in the Federal Register when a moratorium is lifted" and that CMS "may lift a temporary moratorium at any time after imposition of the moratorium" if listed conditions occur — for example, if the circumstances that warranted the freeze have abated or CMS has implemented other program safeguards. Early lift is possible. It, too, is a published action.

Paragraph (c) says a Medicare contractor "denies the enrollment application of a provider or supplier if the provider or supplier is subject to a moratorium." The May notices and the CMS moratoria page describe that denial while a freeze is in effect. They do not say what happens, automatically, to a new application the day after a freeze lapses without a new notice.

What did the May 15 notices start?

The home health notice (FR Doc. 2026-09717, 91 FR 27954) "announces the imposition of a 6-month nationwide moratorium on the Medicare enrollment of home health agencies (HHAs)." The hospice notice (FR Doc. 2026-09718, 91 FR 27946) announces the same kind of 6-month nationwide moratorium on the Medicare enrollment of hospices. Both are effective May 13, 2026.

Those notices also restate the duration rule: a temporary enrollment moratorium imposed by CMS "remains in effect for 6 months" and, if CMS deems it necessary, "may be extended in 6-month increments." They say CMS evaluates whether to extend or lift a moratorium before the end of the initial 6-month period. They do not print "November 13" or any other end date.

What do the moratoria cover?

CMS's Provider Enrollment Moratoria page, which still showed a last-modified date of Aug. 27, 2026, 4:17 p.m., when we opened it Sunday morning, says: "On May 13, 2026, CMS implemented a temporary nationwide enrollment moratorium on Home Health Agencies (HHAs) and Hospices. The moratorium applies to initial applications. This includes non-exempt changes in majority ownership (CIMOs) under 42 CFR 424.550(b) (see 424.550(b) for information about what qualifies as a CIMO). Any such application submitted by HHAs and Hospices after the implementation of the moratorium will be denied."

The same page repeats that the freeze "will remain in effect for 6 months" and "may be extended in 6-month increments, if CMS deems it necessary."

The regulation itself lists categories that a temporary moratorium does not apply to, including certain changes in practice location and certain changes in ownership, and says a moratorium "does not apply to any enrollment application that has been received by the Medicare contractor prior to the date the moratorium is imposed" (42 CFR 424.570(a)). The May notices make the same point about applications already received. That exemption is about filings made before May 13, not a promise about filings made after a later lapse.

What if CMS does not publish an extension around Nov. 13?

If CMS does not publish an extension, 42 CFR 424.570(b) describes a 6-month duration. Six months from the May 13 effective date is about Nov. 13. That date is our arithmetic.

The May notices do not say that pending or future applications would then be automatically approved. They also do not say that contractors would continue denying new initial applications after the 6-month period unless CMS had extended the freeze. Those details are simply not in the notices or in paragraph (b). Agencies should watch the Federal Register and the CMS moratoria page for any extension, lift or other notice — not this explainer.

Update, Wednesday, Nov. 11 (about 6:55 a.m. CT): still no HHA or hospice moratorium extension or lift notice in the Federal Register or on today's public-inspection list. About two days remain until Nov. 13 by our arithmetic.

Update, Monday, Nov. 9 (about 7:20 a.m. CT, historical): the same search now returns one CMS document, the CY 2027 home health final rule published that day at 91 FR 72022. It is not an extension notice. It finalizes changes to 424.570 itself, covered in our story on the moratorium rule changes. No HHA or hospice moratorium extension or lift notice appeared on Monday morning's public-inspection list.

As of Sunday morning, Nov. 8 (historical): a Federal Register documents API search for CMS documents matching "moratorium" or "moratoria" published on or after Oct. 25, 2026, returned 0 results. CMS documents published since Nov. 1 were the Nov. 6 hospital outpatient and ambulatory surgical center final rule, paperwork-reduction notices, an organ-procurement-organization rule and emergency-clearance items. None was a home health or hospice enrollment-moratorium notice. The public-inspection list is typically unavailable on weekends after midnight Eastern and returns Monday; we are not treating this check as an exhaustive search of every possible filing path.

How is this different from Monday's CMS-1844-F publication?

It is a separate clock. CMS-1844-F, the calendar year 2027 home health final rule, published in the Federal Register Monday, Nov. 9, as FR Doc. 2026-22750 (91 FR 72022). It does amend 424.570, but it does not extend or end the current moratoria. Its other enrollment changes are in our enrollment-changes story. Our Monday checklist covers what to verify in that notice. Publication of the payment rule is not, by itself, an announcement extending or ending the enrollment moratoria.

What this page is not

Not clinically reviewed. Not billing, coding or legal advice. Not a prediction that CMS will or will not extend the enrollment moratoria. Not a claim that any application will be automatically approved.

Sources

• eCFR, 42 CFR 424.570
• Federal Register, FR Doc. 2026-09717 (HHA moratorium), May 15, 2026
• Federal Register, FR Doc. 2026-09718 (hospice moratorium), May 15, 2026
• CMS, Provider Enrollment Moratoria

Photo: G. Edward Johnson, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0 (cropped). Sign at HHS headquarters, the Hubert H. Humphrey Building, Washington, D.C., Oct. 12, 2026. File photo; illustration only.

Not clinically reviewed. Informational only, not billing, legal or clinical advice. Check the linked primary source and your Medicare Administrative Contractor.

Drafted with AI assistance from primary sources. Written and edited by the Home Health Brief newsroom under Monsaur Othman's editorial standards. Read how we use AI, our editorial policy and our corrections policy.