Residency and Medicaid status
Two baseline requirements come first: the care recipient must have a Michigan address, and they must be Medicaid-eligible — or willing to apply. If your loved one isn't already on Medicaid, that application happens first, and it carries its own separate eligibility tests around income and assets.
Ask which Medicaid category applies
Medicaid uses an asset test to determine financial eligibility for long-term-care programs like Home Help:
- Medicaid financial rules depend on the eligibility category and household circumstances. Ask MDHHS to identify the rules that apply to the applicant before making financial decisions.
- Medicaid financial rules depend on the eligibility category and household circumstances. Ask MDHHS to identify the rules that apply to the applicant before making financial decisions.
Medicaid financial rules depend on the eligibility category and household circumstances. Ask MDHHS to identify the rules that apply to the applicant before making financial decisions.
The functional test: activities of daily living
Financial eligibility alone doesn't qualify someone for Home Help — there also has to be a genuine, documented need for hands-on assistance with at least one Activity of Daily Living:
- Bathing
- Dressing
- Grooming
- Mobility within the home
- Transferring (e.g., bed to wheelchair)
- Toilet use
Home Help does not cover supervision or prompting alone. Describe the hands-on help the person needs; MDHHS assesses the covered tasks.
What disqualifies an applicant
Home Help exists specifically to help people stay out of institutional care, so it isn't available to people currently living in:
- A nursing home
- An adult foster care home
- An assisted living residence
If your loved one is currently in one of these settings but hoping to transition home, that's a conversation worth having with their MDHHS caseworker directly, since Home Help can often become relevant again once someone returns to a private residence.
The MDHHS-5534 home assessment
MDHHS determines covered tasks and approved hours from the individual assessment. Provider enrollment is a separate step; ask the worker and provider support about the status of each part rather than budgeting around an assumed maximum or approval date.
Quick answers
Yes — Home Help is a Medicaid benefit, so Medicaid eligibility comes first, either already in place or applied for alongside the Home Help request.
No — Home Help is only available to people living in their own home, not in a nursing home, adult foster care home, or assisted living facility.
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