You can report a home health agency by contacting your state’s health department, calling 1-800-MEDICARE, or filing with the HHS Office of Inspector General if fraud is involved. The right channel depends on what happened: poor care, abuse, or billing fraud each have different reporting paths, and you can use more than one at the same time.
Start With the Agency Itself
The fastest first step is calling the home health agency directly and asking to speak with the administrator. Every Medicare-certified home health agency is required by federal law to give you a written copy of your rights when services begin, and those rights include the ability to file a grievance. The agency is obligated to respond.
If the agency doesn’t resolve your concern, or if the situation is serious enough that going through the agency feels pointless or unsafe, skip this step and go directly to your state health department or Medicare.
File a Complaint With Your State Health Department
State Survey Agencies are the primary investigators of home health complaints in the United States. These agencies operate through each state’s department of health, and they have the authority to conduct onsite inspections, issue deficiency findings, and take enforcement action against agencies that violate federal or state standards.
To find your state’s complaint line, visit the CMS contact directory at cms.gov, which lists the phone number and website for every state. Many states offer online complaint forms. A few examples: Alabama’s line is 800-356-9596, Alaska accepts complaints at 888-387-9387, and Arkansas can be reached at 800-223-0340. Your home health agency should also have provided you with your state’s home health hotline number when you started receiving services.
Once a complaint is received, the state assigns it a priority level that determines how quickly an investigation begins. If the complaint suggests immediate danger to a patient, the state must initiate an onsite investigation within two business days. High-priority complaints that don’t involve immediate danger get an onsite visit within 45 calendar days. Lower-priority complaints may be folded into the agency’s next scheduled survey. After the investigation, the state sends the person who filed the complaint a written summary of its findings.
Contact Medicare Directly
You can call 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227) to report concerns about any Medicare-certified home health agency. The line is staffed by real people 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, except some federal holidays. TTY users can call 1-877-486-2048. Live chat is also available. Medicare can help you understand your options and route your complaint to the appropriate agency.
Federal law gives you specific rights as a home health patient, including the right to choose your home health agency, have your property treated with respect, receive a copy of your care plan, participate in decisions about your care, and designate a family member or guardian to act on your behalf. If any of these rights have been violated, that’s worth mentioning when you file.
Report Abuse or Neglect to Adult Protective Services
If your complaint involves physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, neglect, or financial exploitation of an older adult or vulnerable person, contact Adult Protective Services (APS) in your state. This is a different agency from the state health department, and it focuses specifically on protecting individuals rather than regulating healthcare providers.
If someone is in immediate, life-threatening danger, call 911 first. For situations where the danger is not immediate but you believe abuse has occurred or is ongoing, report it to APS or local police. You don’t need proof to make a report. Investigators will assess the situation.
The Eldercare Locator at 800-677-1116 can help you find your local APS office and other resources in your area, including in-home help and information about paying for care. You can also visit eldercare.acl.gov.
Report Fraud to the HHS Office of Inspector General
If your concern involves billing fraud, kickbacks, falsified records, services billed but never provided, or other financial misconduct, file a report with the HHS Office of Inspector General (OIG). The OIG hotline accepts tips from anyone about potential fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement in HHS programs, which includes Medicare and Medicaid.
You can submit a complaint through the OIG’s online portal at oig.hhs.gov or call the hotline. Home health fraud is one of the most common types of Medicare fraud. Examples include billing for visits that never happened, inflating the level of care provided, or enrolling patients who don’t qualify for home health services. If you’ve noticed unexplained charges on your Medicare statements or a caregiver logging hours they didn’t work, the OIG is the right place to report it.
File With an Accrediting Organization
Many home health agencies are accredited by private organizations like The Joint Commission or the Community Health Accreditation Partner (CHAP). These bodies set quality standards and can investigate complaints independently of government agencies.
To file with The Joint Commission, use their online submission form, which is the preferred method for faster processing. You can also call 1-800-994-6610 or mail a written complaint to their Office of Quality and Patient Safety in Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois. They do not accept walk-ins, faxes, emails, or copies of medical records. If your agency is accredited by a different organization, check the agency’s website or printed materials for the accreditor’s name and contact information.
What to Include in Your Complaint
Regardless of which channel you use, your complaint will be taken more seriously and processed more efficiently if you include specific details. Write down the name of the home health agency, the dates and times of the incidents, the names of any staff involved, and a clear description of what happened. If you have documentation like care plans, visit logs, or photographs, keep those organized in case investigators request them (though The Joint Commission, for example, will not accept medical records or photos with an initial complaint).
You can file complaints with multiple agencies simultaneously. Reporting to your state health department doesn’t prevent you from also contacting Medicare, APS, or the OIG. Each organization investigates from a different angle, and using more than one channel can be appropriate when a situation involves both care quality problems and fraud, or both neglect and regulatory violations.
Complaints can typically be filed by the patient, a family member, a friend, or anyone with knowledge of the situation. In most states, you can request that your identity be kept confidential, though investigators may need to reference the specific incidents you describe, which could indirectly reveal who filed.