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Michigan Home Help Program

The Michigan Home Help Program is a Medicaid State Plan personal care program that provides in-home assistance to eligible individuals who need hands-on help with activities of daily living or instrumental activities of daily living. The program allows beneficiaries to choose individual caregivers, including some family members, but MDHHS policy excludes a spouse caring for a spouse and a parent caring for a minor child.

Provides Medicaid-funded personal care services in the home. MDHHS Home Help policy says the client chooses the caregiver and is the employer; individual caregivers provide personal care services to a Home Help beneficiary and submit to Michigan Medicaid to be paid. MDHHS policy excludes responsible relatives, including a spouse caring for a spouse and a parent caring for a minor child. Effective January 1, 2026, individual caregivers are paid $17.13/hour ($13.73 state minimum wage plus $3.40 direct care worker wage increase). Hours are authorized based on individual assessment of care needs.

Eligibility

  • U.S. citizenship or qualified immigrant status required
  • Care recipient must have a qualifying disability

Questions to ask the program

These are questions to ask the program, not a verdict on your eligibility. Confirm the current rules directly with the program.

  • Does the person receiving care live in Michigan? — Residency is usually the first thing a program checks.
  • What counts as a qualifying disability or level of care need, and what documentation shows it?
  • Which citizenship or immigration statuses does the program accept, and which documents show it?
  • Is there a caregiver-specific department, coordinator, or support line? Ask for it by name. — Many agencies have one that isn’t advertised on the website.
  • What documents do you need from us to start an application?
  • Is there a waitlist right now, and how long is it?

Services

Provides Medicaid-funded personal care services in the home. MDHHS Home Help policy says the client chooses the caregiver and is the employer; individual caregivers provide personal care services to a Home Help beneficiary and submit to Michigan Medicaid to be paid. MDHHS policy excludes responsible relatives, including a spouse caring for a spouse and a parent caring for a minor child. Effective January 1, 2026, individual caregivers are paid $17.13/hour ($13.73 state minimum wage plus $3.40 direct care worker wage increase). Hours are authorized based on individual assessment of care needs.

How to apply

Use the official program page for application details: official program page.

  • medicaid (depends_on): Must be Medicaid-eligible
  • medicaid-self-direction (companion): Michigan's implementation of Medicaid self-directed personal care services