To qualify for Michigan’s Medicaid Home Help Program, the person receiving care has to meet two separate tests. First, financial eligibility: they must be enrolled in Michigan Medicaid, and income and asset rules apply. Second, functional eligibility: an MDHHS adult services worker completes an in-home assessment and determines whether the person needs help with activities of daily living or instrumental activities of daily living, and how many weekly hours are approved. Both determinations are made by MDHHS, not by a home care agency. Trinity Home Assistance helps families in Clinton Township, Mount Clemens, Macomb, and across Macomb and Oakland counties prepare for both.
Test one: financial eligibility
The starting point is active Michigan Medicaid coverage. If the person is not enrolled, that application comes first, through MI Bridges or the local MDHHS office.
Income and asset limits apply, and they change. We deliberately do not publish figures, because a number that was correct last year can send someone in the wrong direction this year. MDHHS and MI Bridges are the reliable sources.
What we will say is this: do not disqualify someone based on assumptions. Two beliefs cause families in Clinton Township and Mount Clemens to never apply. The first is that owning a home rules you out. The second is that a pension or Social Security check that seems too large rules you out. Michigan has a pathway for individuals whose income exceeds the standard eligibility limit, sometimes described as a Medicaid deductible or spend-down. If your loved one was told no years ago, or was told no by a relative rather than by MDHHS, that answer may not still apply.
Test two: functional eligibility
This is the in-home assessment, and it is the appointment that matters most.
An MDHHS adult services worker visits the home and completes a comprehensive review of what the person can and cannot do independently, and how long each task takes them. They look at activities of daily living, which are the hands-on ones: bathing, dressing, grooming, eating, toileting, transferring, and mobility. They also look at instrumental activities of daily living: meal preparation, light housework, laundry, shopping, and medication management.
The result of that assessment determines two things: whether the person qualifies, and how many hours per week are approved. It is not self-reported and a family cannot complete it on the state’s behalf.
How to prepare for the assessment
This is where families give away hours they were entitled to. Two things go wrong.
First, the person being assessed performs. Someone who has not showered alone in a year will insist they manage fine, because being assessed feels like being judged. This is normal and it is worth talking about beforehand, gently.
Frame it as describing a hard day, not as admitting defeat.
Second, the family arrives with nothing written down. The worker is documenting specifics: how often, how long, who helps. “She needs a lot of help” produces a different result than “she needs standby assistance and physical support for a shower, three times a week, about forty minutes each time, and she had two falls in the bathroom in March.”
Keep a two-week log before the visit: date, task, how long it took, who helped. Bring a copy and hand it to the worker. It is the single most useful thing you can do.
The forms
MDHHS will direct you to the current versions of the required paperwork, which includes an application and a medical needs certification completed by a medical professional. Form numbers and requirements are updated periodically, so ask MDHHS or your county office which current forms apply to your situation rather than downloading something you found on a third-party site.
What happens if you are approved
MDHHS issues a written service plan. It lists the approved tasks and the approved weekly hours. That document is the operating agreement for everything that follows. The member then names their chosen caregiver, and that caregiver completes CHAMPS enrollment and background screening before any payment can be issued.
What happens if you are denied
You can appeal. This matters more than most families realize, because a denial is often a documentation problem rather than a genuine ineligibility. Cases that come back with a clearer picture of daily need, a supporting note from a clinician, or a record of falls and hospital visits are frequently approved on a second look.
Circumstances also change. A person who did not qualify eighteen months ago may qualify now. A reassessment can reach a different result.
Reassessment
Expect a review roughly every twelve months. Approved hours can increase or decrease based on how the person’s needs have changed. Prepare for the reassessment the same way you prepared for the first assessment. Families that treat it as a formality are the ones surprised by a reduction.
Getting help with the process in Macomb County
Trinity Home Assistance works with families in Clinton Township, Mount Clemens, Macomb, Sterling Heights, Utica, and St. Clair Shores. We help you understand what to request, prepare for the assessment, and get through CHAMPS enrollment on the caregiver side.
We cannot determine eligibility and we will not pretend to. MDHHS does that. We can make sure you walk into the assessment prepared instead of hoping it goes well.
| Download the free guide: How Family Members Can Get Paid to Care for a Loved One. It covers the whole process in plain language, with worksheets for the assessment and the paperwork.
Or talk to us. Call (248) 506-0968 or request a free eligibility conversation at trinityassist.com. Trinity Home Assistance serves Warren, Sterling Heights, Southfield, St. Clair Shores, Mount Clemens, Macomb, Madison Heights, Clinton Township, Utica, and Farmington Hills. |
Trinity Home Assistance
32300 Northwestern Highway, Suite 215, Farmington Hills, MI 48334
Phone: (248) 506-0968 · Email: info@trinityassist.com · trinityassist.com
Serving Warren, Sterling Heights, Southfield, St. Clair Shores, Mount Clemens, Macomb, Madison Heights, Clinton Township, Utica, and Farmington Hills.
