CMS’s September Medicare Enrollment Moratoria brief puts a sharper edge on a rule that began May 13: the nationwide six-month freeze covers new Medicare enrollment for home health agencies and hospices and certain changes in majority ownership. CMS says applications received before May 13 are exempt; new HHA branches and hospice practice locations cannot be accepted or approved during the moratorium. Existing enrolled providers may keep serving patients, but revalidation and enrollment-reporting duties continue.

DomAfina’s take: before signing a sale, merger, recapitalization or expansion, map the transaction to PECOS and 42 CFR 424.550(b), confirm whether it is a non-exempt change in majority ownership, and document who owns each deadline. A deal can be operationally sound and still stall at enrollment. Put Medicare-enrollment review beside legal and financial diligence—not after closing.

Source reviewed: CMS: Medicare Enrollment Moratoria Fast Facts (September 2026). The source supports the reported update; the operational recommendations are DomAfina’s analysis.