The Michigan Home Help Program: Get Paid for the Care You’re Already Giving

If you help a parent, relative, or friend in Michigan with bathing, dressing, meals, or getting around their home, the state has a Medicaid program that can pay you for that work. It’s called the Home Help program, it’s run by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS), and it has been keeping Michiganders out of nursing homes for decades.

Mozyne Health guides families through the entire process — the eligibility check, the Medicaid requirements, the assessment, the enrollment paperwork — and then keeps supporting you after the first paycheck with 1:1 caregiver coaching, training, and a community of people doing the same work you are.

Free Eligibility Check — 2 minutes, no paperwork →

What Is the Home Help Program?

Home Help is a Michigan Medicaid benefit that pays for personal care so adults who need hands-on help with daily activities can stay in their own homes instead of moving to a facility. The person providing that care can be someone the client already knows and trusts — an adult child, a sibling, a grandchild, a friend, a neighbor.

That’s the part most families don’t know: you don’t have to hire a stranger, and the person already doing the caregiving can be the one who gets paid.

Unlike Michigan’s waiver programs, Home Help is an entitlement. If your loved one meets the criteria, services must be made available — there is no waitlist.

How Much Does Home Help Pay?

As of January 1, 2026, Michigan’s rate for individual caregivers is $17.13 per hour — a $13.73 base direct-care rate plus a $3.40 supplement, set by the MDHHS rate bulletin. The rate is the same in every Michigan county, from Detroit to the U.P.

Your total monthly pay depends on the number of hours MDHHS approves, which comes from an in-home assessment of your loved one’s needs. And if you live with the person you care for, your Home Help income may be excludable from federal income tax under IRS Notice 2014-7 — meaning your take-home can be worth meaningfully more than the hourly rate suggests.

Read more: How Much Do Family Caregivers Get Paid in Michigan? (2026 Rates)

Who Qualifies?

Two people have to qualify — the person receiving care, and you.

The person receiving care must:

• Live in Michigan and be enrolled in Medicaid Fee for Service (not just the Healthy Michigan Plan)
• Need hands-on help with at least one Activity of Daily Living — bathing, dressing, eating, toileting, transferring, grooming, or moving around the home

The caregiver must:

• Be 18 or older
• Pass a criminal background check
• Complete Michigan’s CHAMPS provider enrollment
• Not be the client’s spouse or the parent of a minor child receiving care (adult children, siblings, grandchildren, other relatives, friends, and neighbors are all eligible)

Not sure where your family lands? That’s exactly what our free eligibility check is for. Full details: Michigan Home Help Program Eligibility: Who Qualifies?

What Mozyne Does That the State Doesn’t

You can apply to Home Help on your own — it’s a public program. Families come to Mozyne because the process involves Medicaid enrollment questions, a county assessment, CHAMPS provider registration, and Electronic Visit Verification, and getting any step wrong adds weeks. We’ve built our entire service around getting families from “overwhelmed” to “enrolled” in about 60 days:

• Eligibility screening before you touch a single form
• Guided application — we handle the paperwork and state requirements with you
• Enrollment support — CHAMPS registration, background check, EVV setup
• Then the part nobody else offers: a dedicated 1:1 care coach, 24/7 AI coaching, peer support groups, crisis planning, and dementia-specialized training built on the clinical research of our co-founder Dr. Malaz Boustani, one of the country’s leading experts in dementia care. Families in coaching programs built on this model have seen 47% fewer ER visits and 49% fewer hospitalizations.

Payment matters. Support is what makes caregiving sustainable. We do both.

See how it works, step by step →

Home Help vs. Other Ways to Get Paid as a Caregiver in Michigan

Home Help is the biggest program, but it isn’t the only one. Depending on your situation — caring for a spouse, caring for a veteran, higher care needs — a different pathway may fit better:

• Can You Get Paid to Care for Your Spouse in Michigan?
• Home Help vs. MI Choice Waiver: Which Program Fits Your Family?
• How to Get Paid as a Caregiver for a Veteran in Michigan

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the Michigan Home Help program legitimate?

Yes. It’s a Medicaid personal-care benefit administered directly by MDHHS and has operated in Michigan for decades. Here’s how to tell the real program from lookalikes.

How long does approval take?

It varies by county and by how complete the application is. With guided support, many Mozyne families complete the process in about 60 days. What affects the timeline.

Can I get paid to care for my spouse?

Not under Home Help — spouses are excluded. But Michigan’s MI Choice waiver has a self-determination option that can pay spouses in some situations. Read the spouse guide.

Does getting paid affect my loved one’s Medicaid or my benefits?

Home Help pay goes to you, not your loved one, so it doesn’t count against their Medicaid. How it affects your own benefits depends on your situation. Details here.

What if we’re denied?

Denials are often fixable — wrong Medicaid category, incomplete assessment documentation, missed deadlines. Your options after a denial.