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

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Michigan program

Nurses and personal-care help at home (Medicaid)

Michigan Medicaid can pay for nursing and personal care at home after separate assessments.

What it is

Michigan Medicaid can pay for nursing and personal care at home after separate assessments.

A discharge plan can include care that is difficult to manage alone. Nursing and Home Help have different reviewers. Neither follows automatically from a cancer diagnosis.

Eligibility rules
  • Michigan Medicaid and an assessed need are required.
  • An MDHHS adult services worker assesses Home Help. Nursing requires its own medical review; the current Medicaid health-plan contract excludes people already authorized for private-duty nursing, so the referring team should confirm Program Review Division and fee-for-service arrangements with MDHHS.
What you get
  • Approved skilled nursing hours at home through Medicaid.
  • Personal-care help after a Home Help assessment.
What the help covers
  • Nursing covers skilled care. Home Help addresses personal-care tasks under its own assessment.
  • Chemotherapy alone does not establish the nursing threshold. The clinical record needs to describe daily care.
If you decide to apply
  1. Ask the oncology or discharge team whether a nursing referral, a Home Help assessment, or both would fit the care tasks.
  2. Have the team confirm the nursing route with MDHHS Program Review Division. MDHHS adult services arranges the separate Home Help assessment.
  3. A record of care tasks, their duration and overnight needs can help the assessment; the referral need not wait for two weeks of notes.

Discharge team and MDHHS Program Review Division; MDHHS adult services for Home Help · Official page ↗

If you decide to apply
  • The social worker can confirm the Home Help decision deadline with the adult services worker. That decision clock is different from medical approval of nursing and from finding an available nurse.
Good to know

Approval of Medicaid, approval of care hours and finding available staff are separate decisions.

Other details
  • Home Help cannot pay a parent to care for their own child under 18, though another adult relative may be approved. A yes on hours is not yet a nurse at the door.
Official sources
Ask your social worker

“Could someone assess our child for nursing and Home Help separately? What would each provide, what would still fall to us, and could you help with referrals if appropriate?”

Why I’m asking: I want a realistic picture of the care we can safely manage at home.

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

Describe the care tasks, duration and overnight needs; the referral need not wait for a two-week log.

Your social worker

The oncology team writes the referral and describes what care is needed.

The care team

The team documents the care needs for separate assessments; records do not guarantee approved hours or available staff.

Who decides
Private-duty nursing needs medical review through the MDHHS Program Review Division route. The team confirms fee-for-service arrangements and any health-plan change. MDHHS adult services separately assesses Home Help.
Ask your social worker
“Could we discuss separate nursing and Home Help assessments and confirm the correct MDHHS routes?”

How to apply

First step: Ask the oncology or discharge team whether a nursing referral, a Home Help assessment, or both would fit the care tasks.

  1. Ask the oncology or discharge team whether a nursing referral, a Home Help assessment, or both would fit the care tasks.
  2. Have the team confirm the nursing route with MDHHS Program Review Division. MDHHS adult services arranges the separate Home Help assessment.
  3. A record of care tasks, their duration and overnight needs can help the assessment; the referral need not wait for two weeks of notes.

Official application / program page ↗

Where it starts: Ask the oncology team for a home-care referral and ask the Medicaid plan for a case manager. For Home Help, ask MDHHS adult services for an assessment.

What to gather

  • A description of care tasks, duration and overnight needs
  • The Medicaid enrollment details
  • The oncology or discharge referral

How long: The adult services worker confirms the Home Help decision deadline. Nursing review, approved hours and available staffing have separate timing.

What a yes looks like

An authorisation naming hours per week and an agency to deliver them.

What a no looks like, and the next move

Ask what level of task the reviewer was looking for and have the team write it down, then appeal.

Watch out

  • Home Help cannot pay a parent to care for that parent’s own minor child; other programs have different rules.
  • A diagnosis or broad care description alone does not establish the nursing or personal-care test.

The numbers and the rules

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

What it is worth

Skilled nursing and personal care at home require separate assessments and approval.

  • $45 — Previously recorded Home Help eligibility standard; adult services confirms current deadline, separate from nursing or staffing

Covers: Private-duty nursing hours at home · Personal care through Home Help · Equipment and supplies through the Medicaid plan

What it costs the family: No charge under Medicaid.

The eligibility facts, as published

Requirement
Michigan Medicaid, plus an assessed need
Authorizer
Private-duty nursing needs medical review through the MDHHS Program Review Division route. The team confirms fee-for-service arrangements and any health-plan change. MDHHS adult services separately assesses Home Help.

The trap: For Home Help, Michigan will not pay a parent caring for their own minor child. The July 2026 rule is explicit about the responsible-relative exclusion. That is a Home Help rule; it was not shown to reach every licensed-nurse or waiver arrangement.

Where I read this

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