Post-Surgery Home Care in Michigan: Recovery Help at Home

Post-surgery home care in Michigan provides a caregiver to help you bathe, dress, move safely, eat, and manage the house while you recover. Medicare covers short-term skilled nursing and therapy at home, but the daily hands-on help most people need is paid by Michigan Medicaid’s Home Help program, which can also pay a family member to provide it.

On this page

1. What does post-surgery home care include?
2. Medicare home health vs Medicaid Home Help after surgery
3. How Medicaid Home Help pays for recovery care
4. Can a family member provide this care and get paid?
5. Post-surgery home care across Michigan
6. Frequently asked questions

What does post-surgery home care include?

The first weeks after surgery are when falls and readmissions happen. Our caregivers cover the tasks your surgeon told you not to do:

• Bathing and dressing without bending, lifting, or getting incisions wet.
• Safe transfers in and out of bed, chairs, and the car, and help using a walker.
• Meal preparation and hydration to support healing.
• Medication reminders so pain medication and antibiotics are taken on schedule.
• Light housekeeping, laundry, shopping, and rides to follow-up appointments where arranged.
• Watching for fever, swelling, or confusion and alerting family.

Caregivers do not change sterile dressings or give injections; a nurse does that. Our post-surgery home care guide covers what to set up before you leave the hospital.

Medicare home health vs Medicaid Home Help after surgery

Many families discover after discharge that Medicare home health does not include the help they need. Here is how the two programs divide the work.

	Medicare home health	Medicaid Home Help
What it covers	Skilled nursing, physical and occupational therapy, wound care; a home health aide only alongside skilled care	Bathing, dressing, toileting, transfers, meals, housekeeping, shopping, medication reminders
Who qualifies	Medicare beneficiaries who are homebound with a doctor’s order	Michigan Medicaid recipients who need hands-on help with daily activities
How long	Weeks, until skilled goals are met	As long as the need lasts, reviewed by MDHHS
Family caregiver paid?	No	Yes, through CHAMPS enrollment

Medicare pays the nurse. Home Help, run by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS), pays for the person who helps you shower and makes lunch. If you are not on Medicaid, our free Medicaid eligibility check takes a few minutes, and private-pay care is available to start right away. Read home care vs home health care in Michigan for more detail.

How Medicaid Home Help pays for recovery care

1. Confirm Medicaid. Check enrollment or apply through MI Bridges. Start before a scheduled surgery.
2. Request an assessment. An MDHHS adult services worker visits the home; a doctor signs a medical needs form.
3. Get hours authorized. MDHHS sets a monthly hour total based on the help you need with each daily activity.
4. Choose the caregiver. A family member enrolls through CHAMPS, or we place one of our trained caregivers.
5. Recover, then reassess. Hours end when you no longer need help, or increase if recovery is slow.

Our Michigan Home Help program page explains each step; longer-term needs may qualify for the MI Choice Waiver.

Can a family member provide this care and get paid?

Yes, for as long as recovery takes. If you qualify for Home Help, your adult child, sibling, relative, friend, or neighbor can enroll as an individual provider through CHAMPS, pass a background check, log visits with Electronic Visit Verification (EVV), and be paid by MDHHS for the authorized hours. Under current MDHHS rules, a spouse or the parent of a minor child generally cannot be paid as the Home Help provider.

Short-term pay is common: a daughter takes leave from work, is paid through Home Help for the weeks her father needs help, and stops when he is back on his feet. Learn more at become a paid caregiver.

Post-surgery home care across Michigan

We provide recovery care in Detroit, Dearborn, Warren, Sterling Heights, Ann Arbor, Flint, Lansing, and Grand Rapids, and nearby communities, with caregivers who speak English, Arabic and Spanish.

Frequently asked questions

Does Medicaid cover care after surgery at home in Michigan?

Yes, when the person is on Michigan Medicaid and needs hands-on help with daily activities during recovery. The Home Help program, run by MDHHS, authorizes personal care hours after an in-home assessment and pays the caregiver directly. Because approval requires an assessment, contact MDHHS or Supportive Solutions Homecare before the surgery date whenever the operation is planned.

Will Medicare pay for a caregiver after surgery?

Medicare pays for short-term skilled home health, such as nursing visits, physical therapy, and wound care, when a doctor orders it and you are homebound. A home health aide may be included for a limited time while skilled care continues. Medicare does not pay for ongoing help with bathing, meals, or housekeeping, and it never pays a family member to provide care.

How quickly can post-surgery home care start?

Private-pay care from Supportive Solutions Homecare can usually begin within days of your call, in place the day you come home. Medicaid Home Help requires an MDHHS assessment first, so for a scheduled surgery start the application weeks in advance. After an emergency surgery, we can start privately and move to Home Help once approved.

Can a family member be paid to care for me after surgery?

Yes, through Medicaid Home Help if you qualify. Your adult child, sibling, relative, or friend enrolls as an individual provider through CHAMPS, passes a background check, and is paid by MDHHS for the authorized hours logged with EVV. Spouses and parents of minor children are generally excluded. Care can end when you recover; there is no minimum commitment.

What surgeries most often need home care during recovery?

Hip and knee replacements, spinal surgery, heart surgery, abdominal surgery, and cancer surgeries are the most common. Any procedure that limits lifting, bending, driving, or standing for several weeks can leave an adult unable to bathe, cook, or manage the house alone. Older adults and people who live alone benefit most from a caregiver in the first weeks.