How It Works: From Eligibility Check to First Paycheck

Getting paid to care for a loved one in Michigan takes four steps: confirm Medicaid eligibility, complete the MDHHS Home Help assessment, enroll the caregiver in CHAMPS, and start care with Electronic Visit Verification so pay begins. Supportive Solutions Homecare manages the Michigan caregiver application at every step.

On this page

1. The four steps of the Michigan caregiver application
2. How long does the process take?
3. Frequently asked questions

The four steps of the Michigan caregiver application

Michigan pays family and friend caregivers through the Home Help program, run by MDHHS. The process below is the same whether you are a spouse, an adult child, a relative or a trusted friend. A caregiver who wants agency work instead can skip to our careers page.

1. Check eligibility. Confirm that your loved one has, or can get, Michigan Medicaid and needs hands-on help with daily activities.
2. Assessment and authorization. An MDHHS adult services worker visits the home and authorizes monthly care hours.
3. Caregiver enrollment through CHAMPS. You register as an individual provider, pass a background check and get linked to your loved one’s case.
4. Care starts, EVV and pay. You log each visit with Electronic Visit Verification and MDHHS pays you for the authorized hours.

Step 1: Check eligibility

Two things must be true. First, the person receiving care must have active Michigan Medicaid, or qualify for it based on income and assets. Second, they must need help with activities of daily living such as bathing, dressing, toileting, eating, transferring or walking.

Start with our free Medicaid eligibility checker. If your loved one does not have Medicaid yet, we help you apply through MI Bridges and gather the ID, income and bank documents MDHHS asks for. If income is over the limit, we explain spend-down and other options before you apply.

What Supportive Solutions does: reviews your answers, confirms which program fits (Home Help or the MI Choice Waiver), and prepares the Medicaid application with you.

Step 2: Assessment and authorization

Once Medicaid is active, we contact your county MDHHS office to request a Home Help assessment. An adult services worker visits the home, asks about medical conditions and scores each daily task by how much help is needed. That score becomes the number of paid hours authorized each month.

Preparation matters. Families who describe bad days as well as good ones, keep a list of every task they help with and have the caregiver present usually receive hours that match the real workload.

What Supportive Solutions does: schedules the request, gives you a preparation checklist, joins the visit when you want us there, and asks for a reassessment if hours do not reflect your loved one’s needs.

Step 3: Caregiver enrollment through CHAMPS

CHAMPS is Michigan’s Medicaid provider system. The caregiver creates a MiLogin account, completes the individual provider enrollment, consents to a criminal background check and enters direct-deposit details. The county office then links the provider record to the care recipient’s case.

Caregivers do not need a CNA license or a certificate. They need to be 18 or older, legally allowed to work in the United States and clear of disqualifying convictions. Our become a paid caregiver page lists the full requirements, and our CHAMPS enrollment guide explains each screen.

What Supportive Solutions does: completes CHAMPS with you in your language, checks every field before submission and follows up with the county office so a small error does not stall your pay.

Step 4: Care starts, EVV and pay

Michigan requires Electronic Visit Verification for Home Help. At each visit the caregiver clocks in and out through a phone app or the client’s phone line, which confirms the date, time and location of care. Verified visits are what MDHHS pays on its regular payment cycle, usually by direct deposit.

Pay is the MDHHS individual-provider hourly rate multiplied by the authorized hours. Current figures and monthly examples are on our family caregiver pay page. Many caregivers who live with the person they care for can treat the income as tax-exempt difficulty-of-care payments under IRS Notice 2014-7; a tax professional can confirm.

What Supportive Solutions does: sets up EVV on your phone, trains you on safe personal care and transfers, watches for missed clock-ins, and stays available for hour changes, renewals and questions. See our EVV guide for day-to-day tips.

How long does the process take?

Every case moves at the pace of three things: whether Medicaid is already active, how quickly the county schedules the assessment, and how fast CHAMPS processes the caregiver’s enrollment. Families that already have Medicaid and submit complete documents move fastest. Missing verification is the most common cause of delay, followed by CHAMPS errors.

We shorten the wait by running the caregiver’s CHAMPS enrollment while the Medicaid application or assessment is still pending, and by following up with the county office on a set schedule instead of waiting for mail. Wondering whether a spouse, adult child or friend can be the caregiver? See who can be paid to care or our FAQ.

Frequently asked questions

What do I need before I start the Michigan caregiver application?

For the person receiving care: their Medicaid ID if they have one, photo ID, proof of income, bank statements and a list of the daily tasks they need help with. For the caregiver: photo ID, Social Security number, address and direct-deposit details. If Medicaid is not active yet, we gather the same documents for the MI Bridges application.

Can care start before the caregiver is approved in CHAMPS?

Care can begin, but paid hours only count from the date MDHHS authorizes them and the caregiver’s CHAMPS enrollment is active with EVV in place. Visits logged before that are not paid. That is why we start CHAMPS enrollment early and confirm the effective date with the county office before the first logged visit.

What happens if the assessment authorizes fewer hours than we need?

You can request a reassessment. Bring documentation of the tasks that were missed, a doctor’s note if a condition has changed, and a log of the care you actually provide. Supportive Solutions reviews the care plan with you, drafts the request and follows up with the adult services worker so the hours are reviewed promptly.

Which Michigan cities does this process cover?

All of Michigan. We serve families in Detroit, Dearborn, Warren, Sterling Heights, Ann Arbor, Flint, Lansing and Grand Rapids, and we work with the county MDHHS offices that serve those areas. Ohio service is coming soon. Care and enrollment support are available in English, Arabic and Spanish.