Michigan Home Help Program (Medicaid Home Care)

The Michigan Home Help program is a Medicaid benefit run by MDHHS that pays for hands-on personal care at home. If you or your loved one is on Michigan Medicaid and needs help with daily tasks like bathing, dressing, or meals, Home Help can pay a family member, friend, or agency caregiver to provide that care.

On this page

1. What is the Michigan Home Help program?
2. Who qualifies for Home Help in Michigan?
3. What services does Home Help cover?
4. How much does Home Help pay?
5. Who can be your Home Help caregiver?
6. How to apply for the Michigan Home Help program
7. Home Help vs MI Choice Waiver: which one fits your family?
8. MDHHS Home Help contacts and resources
9. Home Help support across Michigan
10. Frequently asked questions

What is the Michigan Home Help program?

Home Help is the part of Michigan Medicaid that pays for personal care services in a person’s own home. It is a state plan benefit, which means anyone who meets the rules can receive it. There is no waiting list and no enrollment cap.

The program is administered by MDHHS through its Adult Services staff in each county. An Adult Services Worker visits the home, measures what help is needed, and approves a set number of care hours each month.

What makes Home Help different from most home care benefits is who can provide the care. The person receiving care chooses their own caregiver. That caregiver can be an adult child, sibling, grandchild, friend, or neighbor, or a home care agency like Supportive Solutions Homecare.

You may also see the program called Medicaid home care, MDHHS Home Help, or adult home help. They all refer to the same benefit.

Who qualifies for Home Help in Michigan?

You do not need to be a senior to qualify. Home Help serves adults and children of any age who have a medical condition or disability that limits what they can do for themselves. The care recipient must meet all of the following:

• Active Michigan Medicaid. The person receiving care must be enrolled in a Medicaid program that covers Home Help. Most full-coverage Medicaid plans, including the Healthy Michigan Plan, qualify.
• A documented medical need. A doctor, physician assistant, or nurse practitioner must certify that the person needs help with personal care. MDHHS uses a medical needs form for this step.
• Hands-on help with daily activities. The person must need physical assistance with at least one activity of daily living, such as bathing, dressing, eating, toileting, transferring, or mobility.
• Living at home. Home Help covers people who live in their own house or apartment, or with family. It does not cover people in a nursing home, hospital, or licensed adult foster care home.
• Care that is not already paid for. The tasks cannot be covered by another program, like Medicare home health or a private insurer.

Dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, stroke, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injury, developmental disabilities, and age-related frailty are all common reasons people qualify. If you are unsure, use our free Medicaid eligibility check before you apply.

Do you have to be on Medicaid to get the Home Help program?

Yes. Home Help is a Medicaid benefit, so the care recipient must have active Michigan Medicaid. If your loved one is not enrolled yet, you can apply for Medicaid first through MI Bridges and then request Home Help. Our guide to applying for Michigan Medicaid through MI Bridges walks through the application.

Medicare alone does not qualify you. Medicare pays for short-term skilled home health after a hospital stay, not ongoing personal care. Many families are surprised to learn that a parent with Medicare and a modest income can still qualify for Medicaid and Home Help.

What are ADLs and IADLs, and how many do you need help with?

Activities of daily living (ADLs) are the basic self-care tasks: bathing, dressing, grooming, eating, toileting, transferring (getting in and out of a bed or chair), and moving around the home. Instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs) are household tasks that support independent living: meal preparation, laundry, light housework, shopping, and medication reminders.

To qualify for Home Help, the person must need hands-on help with at least one ADL. Once that need is confirmed, the assessment can also approve time for IADLs. Someone who only needs help with shopping or housework, but can bathe and dress on their own, usually does not qualify.

What services does Home Help cover?

Home Help pays for non-medical personal care and household support. The Adult Services Worker assigns time to each task based on how much help is needed and how often.

Personal care (ADLs):

• Bathing, showering, and skin care
• Dressing and grooming
• Eating and feeding assistance
• Toileting and incontinence care
• Transferring, positioning, and help with walking
• Medication reminders and setup

Household support (IADLs):

• Meal preparation and cleanup
• Laundry
• Light housework in the areas the person uses
• Grocery and essential shopping

Home Help does not cover skilled nursing, physical therapy, 24-hour supervision, companionship on its own, or yard work. Families who need more than personal care, such as adult day services, home modifications, or respite, may want to look at the MI Choice Waiver as well.

How much does Home Help pay?

MDHHS sets a statewide hourly rate for individual providers and a separate rate for agency providers. Through Supportive Solutions, caregivers earn a minimum of $18 per hour.

Your monthly pay depends on the number of hours approved in the assessment, not on how many hours you actually spend with your loved one. Most caregivers are approved for a set number of hours per month tied to the specific tasks the client needs.

Our Michigan family caregiver pay rate page explains how hours are calculated, when payments arrive, and how taxes work for caregivers who live with the person they care for.

Who can be your Home Help caregiver?

The care recipient chooses the provider. MDHHS calls this person an individual provider, and the program was designed so families could keep care inside the family. You can choose:

• An adult son or daughter
• A grandchild, sibling, niece, or nephew
• Another relative, such as an in-law or cousin
• A friend, neighbor, or member of your faith community
• A licensed home care agency

Under current MDHHS rules, a spouse cannot be paid to care for their husband or wife, and a parent cannot be paid to care for a child under 18. Legal guardians face extra rules, so ask your Adult Services Worker before assuming a guardian can enroll.

Every individual provider must be at least 18, have a Social Security number, pass a criminal background check, and enroll as a provider in CHAMPS, the state’s Medicaid provider system. Learn more on our get paid to care for a family member in Michigan page, or start your caregiver enrollment at become a paid caregiver.

Working with Supportive Solutions Homecare as your agency means we handle the paperwork, CHAMPS setup, EVV training, and billing. Your family caregiver still provides the care. We just make sure they get paid correctly and on time.

How to apply for the Michigan Home Help program

The application runs through your county MDHHS office, not through a website. Here is the process from start to first paycheck.

1. Confirm Medicaid coverage. Check that the care recipient has active Michigan Medicaid. If not, apply through MI Bridges first. Our eligibility check takes about two minutes and tells you which programs to pursue.
2. Contact your local MDHHS office. Call the county office where the care recipient lives and ask for Adult Services or the Home Help program. Tell them you want to request a Home Help assessment. They will open a case and assign an Adult Services Worker.
3. Get the medical needs form signed. MDHHS will send a form for a doctor, physician assistant, or nurse practitioner to complete. It confirms the diagnosis and the need for help with personal care. Book the appointment early because this form is the most common cause of delay.
4. Complete the in-home assessment. The Adult Services Worker visits the home, asks about each daily task, and observes how much help is needed. Be honest about bad days, not just good ones. The assessment sets the number of paid hours.
5. Enroll the caregiver in CHAMPS. The chosen caregiver creates a MiLogin account and completes the CHAMPS provider enrollment, including the background check. The worker then links the caregiver to the client’s case. Our CHAMPS enrollment guide covers each screen.
6. Set up EVV and start logging visits. Michigan requires electronic visit verification for Home Help. The caregiver clocks in and out of each visit through the state’s EVV app. Payments are issued by MDHHS based on approved hours and verified visits.

From the first phone call to the first payment, families typically wait several weeks. The biggest delays come from a missing medical form or an incomplete CHAMPS application, which is where an experienced agency saves you time.

Home Help vs MI Choice Waiver: which one fits your family?

Michigan has two main Medicaid programs that pay for care at home. Home Help is the right starting point for most families. The MI Choice Waiver is for people whose needs are high enough that they would otherwise qualify for a nursing home.

Feature	Home Help	MI Choice Waiver
Who runs it	MDHHS Adult Services, county office	MDHHS through regional waiver agencies, including Area Agencies on Aging
Level of care required	Hands-on help with at least one ADL	Nursing facility level of care
Age	Any age	18 and older
Waiting list	None	Possible, varies by region
Services	Personal care and household tasks	Personal care plus respite, adult day, meals, home modifications, emergency response, and more
Family caregiver can be paid	Yes, except spouses and parents of minors	Yes, through the self-determination option
How to apply	Call your county MDHHS office	Call your regional waiver agency or Area Agency on Aging

Many families use both. A loved one can receive Home Help for personal care while the waiver agency adds services Home Help does not cover. Read our full comparison of the MI Choice Waiver in Michigan to see which path fits.

MDHHS Home Help contacts and resources

Use these official channels to start or check on a Home Help case. Keep your loved one’s Medicaid ID number handy when you call.

• Local MDHHS office: Home Help applications start with the Adult Services unit in the county where the care recipient lives. Find your office through the county office directory at michigan.gov/mdhhs.
• Michigan Medicaid Beneficiary Help Line: 1-800-642-3195 for questions about Medicaid coverage and eligibility.
• Home Help provider support: MDHHS operates a provider assistance line for CHAMPS enrollment and payment questions at 1-800-979-4662.
• MI Bridges: Apply for Medicaid, upload documents, and check benefits online.
• CHAMPS: The Community Health Automated Medicaid Processing System, where caregivers enroll as providers using a MiLogin account.

If you would rather have someone else make the calls, Supportive Solutions Homecare can contact the county office, track the medical form, and prepare the caregiver’s CHAMPS enrollment on your behalf. Call (313) 977-6888 or email info@supportivesolutionshomecare.com.

Home Help support across Michigan

Supportive Solutions Homecare is a Michigan Medicaid home care agency serving families in Detroit, Dearborn, Warren, Sterling Heights, Ann Arbor, Flint, Lansing, and Grand Rapids. We work with both family caregivers and our own trained aides, so you can choose the arrangement that fits your household.

Our team speaks English, Arabic and Spanish, and we explain every MDHHS form in the language you are most comfortable with. Whether you need a personal care assistant for a few hours a week or full support for a parent with dementia, we start with the same eligibility review.

Frequently asked questions

Who qualifies for Home Help in Michigan?

Anyone with active Michigan Medicaid who needs hands-on help with at least one activity of daily living, such as bathing, dressing, eating, or transferring, and who lives in their own home rather than a facility. A doctor, physician assistant, or nurse practitioner must confirm the medical need. Age does not matter, and both seniors and younger adults with disabilities qualify.

Do you have to be on Medicaid to get the Home Help program?

Yes. Home Help is a Michigan Medicaid benefit, so the person receiving care must be enrolled in Medicaid. Medicare by itself does not qualify. If your loved one is not on Medicaid yet, apply through MI Bridges first, then contact your county MDHHS office to request a Home Help assessment once coverage is active.

What are ADLs and IADLs, and how many do you need help with to qualify?

ADLs are basic self-care tasks: bathing, dressing, grooming, eating, toileting, transferring, and mobility. IADLs are household tasks like meals, laundry, housework, and shopping. Home Help requires hands-on help with at least one ADL. After that need is confirmed, the assessment can also add paid time for IADLs.

How do I apply for the Michigan Home Help program?

Call the MDHHS office in the county where the care recipient lives and ask for a Home Help assessment. You will need active Medicaid, a medical needs form signed by a doctor, and an in-home assessment by an Adult Services Worker. The caregiver then enrolls in CHAMPS. Supportive Solutions Homecare can guide you through each step.

What is the MDHHS Home Help phone number or local office?

Home Help does not have a single statewide application line. Applications go through the Adult Services unit at your county MDHHS office, which you can find in the office directory at michigan.gov/mdhhs. For Medicaid coverage questions, call the Michigan Medicaid Beneficiary Help Line. For provider payment questions, MDHHS has a separate provider support line.

Will Medicaid pay for caregivers in the home?

Yes. In Michigan, Medicaid pays for in-home caregivers through the Home Help program and, for people with higher needs, the MI Choice Waiver. Both allow the person receiving care to choose a family member or friend as their paid caregiver, as long as that person meets MDHHS provider requirements and enrolls in CHAMPS.