NYSDOH wants $1M / $3M on the certificate.
Where no state rule on this page sets a figure, your referral contracts set it, and the one asking the most decides what you carry. Ask each referral source for its insurance exhibit before you buy. We set the coverage up and produce the certificate — usually the same day.
Tell us the situation.
One licensed human replies the same business day — not five agents, not an auto-responder. If the policy you have is already the right one, we will tell you.
We use this to quote and service your insurance, and we do not sell it or pass it to lead networks. Privacy policy.
What New York requires
Does New York license home care agencies?
New York Public Health Law requires an organization to be licensed or certified as a home care agency by the New York State Department of Health before it provides or arranges home care. A new licensed home care services agency (LHCSA) applies through a Certificate of Need application that the Public Health and Health Planning Council must approve.
NYSDOH Home Care information·checked 2026-10-04
Does New York require workers compensation for home health agencies?
Yes. Virtually all employers in New York State must provide workers compensation coverage for their employees, under sections 2 and 3 of the Workers' Compensation Law.
NY Workers' Compensation Board·checked 2026-10-04
What is the MLTC program?
Managed long-term care (MLTC) is a New York program that delivers long-term services and supports to people who are chronically ill or disabled and want to stay in their homes. Home care and adult day care come through managed long-term care plans approved by the New York State Department of Health.
NYSDOH Managed Long Term Care·checked 2026-10-04
New York has 100 Medicare-certified home health agencies on CMS's Care Compare list (July 2026). (CMS Care Compare home health agency list (July 2026))
Send us what you have. We’ll tell you if it’s right.
Your current policy paperwork, a renewal notice, or nothing at all. A licensed agent reads it and replies the same business day.
Limits
What to carry, and why that number.
- General liability$1M / $3M
- Abuse & molestationMatch the contract
- A standard general liability policy routinely excludes this, and where it is included the limit sits below what New York referral contracts ask for. Match the contract, not the policy.
- Hired & non-owned autoMatch the contract
- The other limit that fails. Aides drive their own cars between New York client homes, a personal policy will not answer a business trip, and the limit carried is usually below what the contract asks.
Coverage
Six lines. Each one closes a specific hole.
Professional liability
Covers claims that care delivered in the home fell below the standard a reasonable provider would meet.
Without it — A single allegation of negligent care is defended out of pocket, and most state and MCO contracts will not accept the agency without it.
General liability
Bodily injury and property damage arising from operations: a fall in a client home, damage to a client residence.
Without it — The most common home-visit claim there is has no defense behind it.
Abuse and molestation
Defense and indemnity for allegations against a caregiver, including claims that the agency hired or supervised negligently.
Without it — Nearly every general liability form excludes it by endorsement, so the exposure most likely to end an agency is the one most often uninsured.
Workers compensation
Statutory benefits for caregiver injury, the highest-frequency loss in the industry, driven by lifting and transfers.
Without it — Medical and indemnity costs land on the agency directly, and in most states operating without it is illegal.
Non-owned and hired auto
Liability when a caregiver drives their own car between clients or transports a client.
Without it — The caregiver’s personal auto policy defends the caregiver. The agency is named anyway, and has nothing responding.
Cyber and privacy
Breach response, notification and regulatory defense for PHI held in scheduling, EVV and billing systems.
Without it — HIPAA notification costs begin immediately and are not covered by any other line on the policy.
What home health and home care agencies we placed in 2025 and 2026 actually paid.
These are annual premiums from policies we bound, effective January 2025 to September 2026. We show the median and the middle half of what clients paid, never the cheapest or the most expensive, and only for lines where at least five agencies stand behind the figure.
- Professional liability (including combined general and professional packages)
- $800median a year
- Middle half: $510 to $1,580
- 33 policies from 24 agencies
- Workers compensation
- $2,060median a year
- Middle half: $1,610 to $3,150
- 21 policies from 17 agencies
- General liability, written on its own
- $350median a year
- Middle half: $350 to $510
- 7 policies from 7 agencies
Payroll moves workers compensation more than anything else, and the services you provide, your limits and your claims history move the rest, so treat these as a sense of scale rather than a quote. Source: Boring Insurance bound policies, cancelled policies and test records excluded, refreshed 2026-10-04.
In New York
The organizations that will ask for your certificate.
- NYC Department for the Aging (DFTA) · Area Agencies on Aging
- Nassau County Office for the Aging · Area Agencies on Aging
- Suffolk County Office for the Aging · Area Agencies on Aging
- Monroe County AAA (Rochester) · Area Agencies on Aging
- Erie County Department of Senior Services (Buffalo) · Area Agencies on Aging
- Aetna Better Health of New York · MLTC / Managed Care Organizations
- Centers Plan for Healthy Living · MLTC / Managed Care Organizations
- Elderplan / HomeFirst · MLTC / Managed Care Organizations
- Fidelis Care New York · MLTC / Managed Care Organizations
- HealthFirst PHSP · MLTC / Managed Care Organizations
- Molina Healthcare of New York · MLTC / Managed Care Organizations
- RiverSpring MLTC · MLTC / Managed Care Organizations
- UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of New York · MLTC / Managed Care Organizations
- VillageCareMAX · MLTC / Managed Care Organizations
Questions
What is CDPAP and what insurance requirements does it create?
CDPAP allows individuals to direct their own care. Agencies administering CDPAP must maintain GL, professional liability, workers compensation, and bonds with requirements that differ from traditional home health.
Our caregivers drive their own cars. What does the carrier require?
That they keep their own auto insurance, and that you check their driving records every year. Hired and non-owned auto is written excess of the driver’s personal policy rather than instead of it, so a caregiver whose own coverage lapsed is functionally uninsured on a client visit and the agency absorbs what follows. Annual motor vehicle record checks are the second condition, and annual means annual: a check at hire and nothing after is the version carriers find at claim time. Both are cheaper to build into hiring and review than to explain afterwards.
What limits do most contracts require?
$1,000,000 per occurrence and $3,000,000 aggregate is the common requirement across state Medicaid contracts and managed care organizations. Some MCOs require the agency be named on a certificate before the first authorization is issued.
Is abuse and molestation coverage really necessary?
For an agency sending caregivers into private homes, it is the coverage most likely to be needed and least likely to be present. Standard general liability forms exclude it, so it has to be added deliberately, and most contracts now require evidence of it.
Do caregivers driving their own cars need to be covered?
Yes. A caregiver’s personal auto policy responds for the caregiver, not the agency. Hired and non-owned auto liability is what responds when the agency is named in the suit, which it will be.
How fast can coverage be bound?
Same day is normal for a licensed agency with clean loss history. What slows it down is missing payroll detail or an incomplete list of services provided. Have both ready.
Read next
The coverage itself, explained.
New York decides what you must carry. These explain what you are buying, what it excludes, and what moves the price.
Coverage
Tell us what you do. We’ll tell you what it costs.
Licensed in New York. Have your payroll figures and a list of services on hand — those are the two things that slow a quote down.
Start a quoteLast reviewed 2026-08-16