Personal Care at Home Through Michigan Medicaid and HIDE D-SNP
Trinity Home Assistance provides respectful personal care at home for eligible Michigan Medicaid and HIDE D-SNP members who need physical help with everyday activities. Care may include authorized assistance with bathing, dressing, grooming, eating, toileting, mobility, and transfers. We serve adults and families throughout Metro Detroit, including communities in Wayne, Macomb, and Oakland counties.
Personal Care at Home Through Michigan Medicaid and HIDE D-SNP
Trinity Home Assistance provides respectful personal care at home for eligible Michigan Medicaid and HIDE D-SNP members who need physical help with everyday activities. Care may include authorized assistance with bathing, dressing, grooming, eating, toileting, mobility, and transfers. We serve adults and families throughout Metro Detroit, including communities in Wayne, Macomb, and Oakland counties.
A Morning Routine That No Longer Felt Unsafe
Carol had always handled her morning routine without help. After a hospital stay and several weeks of weakness, getting in and out of the shower became difficult. Buttons were frustrating, standing at the sink made her tired, and moving from the bed to her walker required more effort than she wanted to admit.
Her son, Marcus, began arriving before work to help. He worried about rushing and about whether he was assisting safely.
“My mom wanted her privacy, and I wanted to help without making her feel like she had lost control,” Marcus said.
The family learned that Michigan Medicaid Home Help may provide hands-on personal care for eligible members who need assistance with at least one activity of daily living. After Carol completed the required assessment and received authorization, a regular care routine was established.
Carol still chose her clothing, preferred bathing schedule, and how she wanted assistance provided. Marcus felt relieved knowing that her essential personal care needs could be addressed more consistently.
Personal care at home should not make someone feel powerless. The purpose is to provide the physical assistance a person needs while protecting dignity, privacy, and independence.
What Is Personal Care at Home?
Personal care at home is nonmedical assistance with essential activities that help a person remain clean, comfortable, mobile, and safe in their own residence.
Michigan’s Medicaid-funded Home Help program provides personal care services to qualifying individuals who need hands-on assistance with activities of daily living, commonly called ADLs. It may also authorize certain instrumental activities of daily living, or IADLs, when program requirements are met.
Activities of daily living may include:
- Bathing
- Dressing
- Eating or feeding
- Grooming
- Moving throughout the home
- Transferring from one position to another
- Using the toilet
A person must have active Medicaid and require physical assistance with at least one qualifying activity of daily living to receive Home Help. Medicare alone does not meet the program’s Medicaid eligibility requirement. MDHHS determines eligibility and authorized services after reviewing medical and functional needs.
Trinity Home Assistance does not approve Medicaid benefits or determine the number of authorized care hours. We provide care according to the member’s approved plan and help families understand the process of starting services with our agency.
Ways to Pay for Personal Care at Home
Personal care may be available through several different payment pathways.
Michigan Medicaid members who qualify may receive authorized personal care through Home Help. People who have both Medicare and Medicaid and are enrolled in MI Coordinated Health receive eligible personal care services through their participating HIDE D-SNP instead of concurrently through Home Help. (Michigan DHHS)
MI Coordinated Health is Michigan’s integrated Medicare-Medicaid program for qualifying dual-eligible adults. Participating plans coordinate Medicare, most Medicaid benefits, and certain long-term services and supports. (MDHHS)
Trinity Home Assistance also welcomes private-pay personal care clients. Private pay gives families another option when benefits do not cover the desired schedule or service, when someone is not Medicaid eligible, or when the family prefers to arrange care directly.
Depending on your situation, Trinity may provide personal care through:
- Michigan Medicaid Home Help
- An authorized MI Coordinated Health HIDE D-SNP benefit
- Private pay
Coverage and service authorization vary by member and health plan.
Benefits of Personal Care at Home
Support With Essential Daily Activities
Bathing, dressing, toileting, and mobility are basic parts of everyday life. When illness, disability, weakness, pain, or reduced balance makes these tasks difficult, dependable assistance can help the member continue living at home.
A caregiver may provide partial or complete assistance depending on the person’s abilities and authorization. The goal is to help where needed without taking over tasks the member can still complete.
Privacy and Dignity During Personal Care
Accepting help with bathing, grooming, or toileting can feel uncomfortable. A thoughtful caregiver explains what they are doing, respects personal boundaries, and allows the member to make choices whenever possible.
Care may be adapted around preferences such as:
- Morning or evening bathing
- Clothing selections
- Grooming routines
- Cultural or religious considerations
- Preferred communication methods
- The amount of assistance desired
Trinity Home Assistance describes its approach as personal and consistent, with support designed around each person’s routines and preferences.
Greater Independence at Home
Personal care does not remove independence. In many cases, it helps preserve it.
A member may only need assistance with one part of an activity, such as stepping into the shower, fastening clothing, or standing from a chair. Receiving support with that step may allow the person to complete the rest independently.
Michigan’s Home Help program is intended to support people who want to live in their own homes rather than move into an adult foster care home, home for the aged, or nursing facility.
More Consistent Daily Routines
When care depends only on relatives who are balancing jobs, children, and other responsibilities, schedules can become unpredictable. An organized care plan can create greater consistency.
A regular routine may help the member know when assistance will be available for bathing, dressing, meals, and other authorized tasks.
Relief for Family Members
Families often provide personal care before realizing that formal support may be available. They may rearrange work schedules, travel across town several times a day, or worry about whether their loved one is safely managing alone.
Medicaid-funded personal care may reduce some of that pressure when the member qualifies. An eligible relative, friend, neighbor, or agency caregiver may provide approved Home Help services, subject to program rules and enrollment requirements.
Personal Care Services We Provide
Bathing Assistance
A caregiver may provide hands-on help with a bath, shower, or another approved bathing routine.
Support may include assistance with:
- Entering or leaving the bathing area
- Washing and rinsing
- Drying
- Managing clothing before and after bathing
- Completing the routine while using approved mobility equipment
Caregivers are not medical professionals unless separately licensed and assigned to provide a licensed service. Personal care does not include skilled nursing treatment.
Dressing Assistance
Difficulty bending, reaching, balancing, or using buttons and zippers can make dressing challenging.
A caregiver may assist with:
- Selecting appropriate clothing
- Putting on or removing garments
- Fastening buttons, snaps, or zippers
- Putting on socks and shoes
- Dressing around mobility limitations
The member should remain involved in clothing choices whenever possible.
Grooming and Personal Hygiene
Grooming can affect comfort, confidence, and overall well-being. Authorized support may include hands-on assistance with routine hygiene tasks.
Examples may include:
- Brushing or combing hair
- Oral hygiene
- Washing the face and hands
- Shaving with an appropriate grooming tool
- Routine skin care
- Other approved personal hygiene activities
The caregiver follows the member’s preferences and authorized care plan.
Some members can prepare to eat independently but need help cutting food, lifting utensils, or physically bringing food to the mouth. Others may need more complete feeding assistance.
A caregiver may provide authorized physical help during meals while following available dietary instructions.
Meal preparation and cleanup may also be authorized as an instrumental activity of daily living when the member meets Home Help requirements.
Toileting Assistance
Toileting is a private and sensitive part of personal care. Caregivers should provide assistance calmly and respectfully.
Authorized help may include:
- Getting to and from the toilet
- Managing clothing
- Physical assistance during toileting
- Personal hygiene after toileting
- Using approved toileting equipment
The exact support provided must match the member’s assessed needs and authorization.
Mobility Assistance
A member may need hands-on help moving safely through the home due to weakness, poor balance, pain, or a physical disability.
Mobility assistance may involve steadying the person, helping them walk from one room to another, or providing physical support while they use their usual mobility equipment.
Home Help does not automatically cover general supervision or simply watching someone because they may be at risk. The program covers physical assistance with authorized tasks. Prompting, reminding, and supervision are listed as noncovered stand-alone services.
Transfer Assistance
Transfers involve moving from one position or surface to another.
Examples include moving:
- From a bed to a chair
- From sitting to standing
- From a chair to a walker
- On or off the toilet
- Into or out of an approved bathing area
Caregivers should follow the member’s established care instructions and agency training. Trinity Home Assistance should be notified when a transfer requires equipment, specialized techniques, or more than one person.
Medication-Related Assistance
Home Help may authorize administering or setting up medication as an instrumental activity of daily living. The level of assistance must remain within the caregiver’s role, training, and the member’s authorization.
Medication reminders and prompting are not covered as stand-alone Home Help services. Website content and care descriptions should distinguish between authorized physical assistance and noncovered reminders.
A person living with Alzheimer’s disease or another form of dementia may need physical help with bathing, dressing, eating, toileting, mobility, or grooming.
A consistent caregiver can use a calm approach, allow extra time, and follow familiar routines while completing approved tasks. However, dementia-related supervision or prompting alone is not a covered Home Help service.
Personal Care and Michigan Medicaid Home Help
Michigan Home Help is not a general private-duty care benefit. Services are based on the individual member’s Medicaid eligibility, medical need, functional assessment, and approved plan.
MDHHS develops a time-and-task plan for approved Home Help cases. The plan identifies the services the member is authorized to receive.
Personal care authorization is not based only on a diagnosis. Two people with the same diagnosis may have very different abilities and care needs. The assessment considers the physical assistance the individual requires to complete daily activities.
Services that Michigan identifies as not covered by Home Help include:
- Heavy housework
- Home repairs
- Prompting or reminders
- General supervision
- Transportation
- Yard work
These exclusions are important because families may use the phrase “personal care” broadly. Trinity Home Assistance must follow the specific Medicaid authorization rather than provide every type of nonmedical help a family may request.
Can Someone I Know Provide My Personal Care?
Michigan Home Help clients generally have the right to choose an individual caregiver, an agency provider, or a combination allowed by their care arrangement. An individual caregiver may be a relative, friend, or neighbor who meets program requirements.
A caregiver must:
- Be at least 18 years old
- Meet applicable program requirements
- Complete required enrollment
- Undergo the required criminal history screening
- Be approved in CHAMPS before payment
- Provide only authorized services
- Complete required service verification
A spouse cannot be paid through Home Help to care for a spouse. A parent cannot be paid through the program to care for their minor child. Other restrictions may apply based on the member’s circumstances.
An individual caregiver may enroll independently or associate with an approved Home Help agency.
Why Choose Trinity Home Assistance?
Personal Care Is a Core Service
Trinity Home Assistance identifies personal care as support with daily activities such as bathing, dressing, grooming, mobility, and hygiene, delivered with dignity and respect.
Our focus is on providing authorized care in a way that feels personal, dependable, and appropriate for the member’s needs.
A Respectful Approach
Members deserve to be spoken to directly, included in decisions, and treated as individuals. Caregivers should never assume that needing physical help means a person cannot express preferences or make choices.
We aim to preserve dignity during even the most sensitive parts of care.
Clear Medicaid-Focused Communication
Home Help terminology can be confusing. Families may hear phrases such as ADLs, IADLs, CHAMPS, service verification, time and task, and agency caregiver.
We explain our role in plain language while being careful not to promise eligibility, hours, or services that MDHHS has not approved.
Support for Existing Caregivers
Some members already have a trusted person providing daily assistance. Trinity Home Assistance can explain whether that person may be considered for an agency caregiver role and what steps may be required.
Enrollment and employment are not guaranteed. The individual must satisfy all agency and Michigan Home Help requirements.
Local Service Across Metro Detroit
We serve members and families throughout Macomb and Oakland counties, including:
Warren, Sterling Heights, Southfield, St. Clair Shores, Mount Clemens, Macomb, Madison Heights, Clinton Township, Utica, and Farmington Hills.
Contact Trinity Home Assistance to confirm current caregiver availability in your community.
How to Get Started
1. Contact Trinity Home Assistance
Tell us what kind of physical assistance is needed and whether the person already has Michigan Medicaid Home Help approval.
You can also let us know whether the member needs an agency caregiver or has a trusted person interested in becoming a caregiver.
2. Apply or Complete the Assessment
A person seeking Home Help must contact the Adult Services unit at the local MDHHS office. The process includes confirming Medicaid eligibility, documenting medical need, and completing a comprehensive in-home assessment.
Current Michigan policy allows medical need to be certified using the applicable MDHHS medical needs form completed by an approved provider.
3. Review the Authorized Tasks
MDHHS determines which personal care activities are approved and how much assistance may be funded.
Trinity Home Assistance reviews the applicable care information so the assigned caregiver understands the authorized tasks.
4. Complete Caregiver Requirements
The caregiver must complete all required agency, screening, enrollment, and service verification steps before Medicaid-funded care begins.
Receive Personal Care With Respect
Needing help with bathing, dressing, mobility, or toileting is deeply personal. Trinity Home Assistance provides authorized care with attention to dignity, comfort, and individual choice.
We serve eligible Michigan Medicaid and HIDE D-SNP members in Warren, Sterling Heights, Southfield, St. Clair Shores, Mount Clemens, Macomb, Madison Heights, Clinton Township, Utica, Farmington Hills, and surrounding Metro Detroit communities.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is personal care at home?
Does Michigan Medicaid cover bathing and dressing assistance?
Does a medical diagnosis automatically qualify someone for personal care?
Can a family member provide my personal care?
Does personal care include medication reminders?
Does personal care include someone staying with me for supervision?
Which areas does Trinity Home Assistance serve?
Trinity Home Assistance serves eligible Medicaid members throughout parts of Metro Detroit, including Warren, Sterling Heights, Southfield, St. Clair Shores, Mount Clemens, Wayne, Macomb, Madison Heights, Clinton Township, Utica, and Farmington Hills. Service availability should be confirmed with the agency.