Written by a parent, not a doctor. Nothing here is medical advice.

Childhood Cancer Lantern
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Michigan program

Medicaid without counting parents’ income (Home Care Children)

Home Care Children is Medicaid for a disabled child under 18 with substantial care needs.

What it is

Home Care Children is Medicaid for a disabled child under 18 with substantial care needs.

High parental income does not close this Medicaid route. The medical review looks at daily care, not just a cancer diagnosis. Your child’s own income and savings still matter.

Eligibility rules
  • Your child must be unmarried, under 18 and a Michigan resident. MDHHS separately reviews disability, the child’s finances and the institutional level of care; an at-home nursing need does not establish approval.
  • Your child’s own income must be under about $994 a month and their own savings under about $9,950.
  • Care must meet a hospital, skilled-nursing-facility or intermediate-care-facility level for people with intellectual disabilities. Home care must be appropriate and cost no more than the institutional alternative.
What you get
  • Full Medicaid coverage if the medical and financial tests are met.
  • Parents’ income and savings do not count toward the child’s limits.
What the help covers
  • This is full Medicaid rather than payment only for the qualifying diagnosis.
  • Your income and savings do not count. Your child’s own savings must be under about $9,950; the worker checks what counts.
If you decide to apply
  1. Ask the oncology social worker about the Home Care Children office and demographic form.
  2. Gather a recent specialist report, the clinician’s DHHS-49 and a 24-hour care plan. Include education or service plans.
  3. If you decide to continue after medical approval, ask the Special Processing Office to explain its application and any deadline.

MDHHS: a medical review first, then the Special Processing Office: 517-335-8992 · Official page ↗

If you decide to apply
  • MDHHS reviews disability and level of care first. The Special Processing Office handles the Medicaid case after medical approval.
Good to know

A cancer diagnosis alone does not meet the care test. Describe what happens throughout the day and night.

Other details
  • The six months in the family guide is time to finish paperwork, not a promised decision time.

Federal background: Medicaid without counting parents’ income (Home Care Children / TEFRA).

Official sources
Ask your social worker

“Could our child’s daily care meet Home Care Children’s test? What would adding it help with, what are the drawbacks, and would you help with the paperwork if it fits?”

Why I’m asking: I want the medical team to assess the care requirements before we rely on this route.

More background and detailed requirements
Additional program information and published rules

Who does what

The three parts, side by side. The agency decides; nobody on this page does.

You

Gather the medical reports, get the DHHS-49 signed, and write the 24-hour plan of care in your own words.

Your social worker

The oncology team completes the DHHS-49 and describes, in writing, what your child cannot do and what care is needed at home.

The care team

The doctor’s written description of daily care is what decides this. Ask for detail, not a diagnosis line.

Who decides
An MDHHS medical reviewer decides the disability and the level of care; the Special Processing Office then opens the Medicaid case.
Ask your social worker
“Our income is over the Medicaid line. Can we start Home Care Children, and can the doctor write what care my child needs at home, hour by hour?”

How to apply

First step: Call 517-335-8992 or 517-335-4210 this week and ask the oncology team for the DHHS-49 and the current medical reports.

  1. Ask the oncology team this week for the DHHS-49 and current medical reports.
  2. Write the 24-hour plan of care: every task, how often, how long it takes, and what would happen without it.
  3. Call 517-335-8992 or 517-335-4210 to start the file.
  4. After medical approval, send the mailed Medicaid application to the Special Processing Office.

Official application / program page ↗

Where it starts: Send the demographic form, the clinician’s DHHS-49, current medical reports, a 24-hour plan of care and any education or service plan. After medical approval, return the mailed Medicaid application to the Special Processing Office.

What to gather

  • The clinician’s DHHS-49
  • Current medical reports
  • A written 24-hour plan of care
  • Any education or service plan
  • The demographic form from the state page

How long: No assessment deadline or observed wait was published. The medical review comes first; the Medicaid application follows it.

What a yes looks like

A medical approval, then a mailed Medicaid application to send to the Special Processing Office, then a Medicaid card in the child’s own name.

What a no looks like, and the next move

A no here is usually about the level of care, not the money. Ask what the reviewer needed to see, get it written down, and appeal by the date on the notice.

Watch out

  • A leukaemia diagnosis on its own does not meet the hospital-level-of-care test. The written description of daily care does.
  • Your child’s own savings are counted, up to $9,950. That is far more than the $2,000 that stops the monthly Social Security payment.
  • The six months in the family guide is time to gather papers, not how long a decision takes.

Dates that change this

2017-10-01: The policy manual section is dated October 2017 and no newer edition was found; the October 2025 family handout is the current description of how to apply.

The numbers and the rules

The arcane layer, kept on purpose. Checked September 11, 2026.

What it is worth

Full Michigan Medicaid with the parents’ income and savings left out. The child’s own limits are $994 a month and $9,950 in countable assets.

  • $994/month — Child’s own net monthly income limit, as a group of one
  • $9,950 — Child’s countable asset limit, asset group of one
  • $6 — Months allowed to finish the paperwork (not a decision time)

Covers: Everything Michigan Medicaid covers for a child · Private-duty nursing and Home Help once Medicaid is in place · Rides to appointments

Legal protection: Parents’ income and assets are not counted · No waiver slot and no waiting list: this is a state-plan category

What it costs the family: No premium or cost share was found in the opened sources; that is a gap in what we could read, not a finding that there is none.

The eligibility facts, as published

Age
unmarried child under 18
Age max exclusive
18
Income
Parents’ income and assets are excluded. The child’s own net-income figure in the January 2026 record is $994 monthly; the HCC worker confirms the current financial standard and exclusions.
Assets
The January 2026 record gives a child countable-asset limit of $9,950. The HCC worker confirms the current standard, ownership and exclusions; do not substitute the SSI $2,000 limit.
Level of care
hospital, skilled-nursing facility or intermediate care for people with intellectual disabilities; home care must be appropriate and cost no more than the institutional alternative
Residency
Michigan
Statute
BEM 170; section 134 legal base

Decisions this site cannot make: MDHHS medical review of the DHHS-49 and the care plan · Special Processing Office application after medical approval

Expect friction on: The hospital-level-of-care test is the real gate; a leukaemia diagnosis on its own does not meet it

The trap: The child’s own money is counted, as a group of one: net income at or under $994 a month and countable assets at or under $9,950. That asset figure is far higher than the $2,000 that blocks the monthly Social Security disability payment, so a child with savings that stop that payment can still come through this door.

Where I read this

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