How much does Home Help actually pay?

The 2026 rate: $17.13 per hour

Effective January 1, 2026, Michigan's Home Help Program pays individual caregivers $17.13 per hour for approved, verified care hours. This rate is set by the state and applies to caregivers enrolled as individual providers through CHAMPS — whether that's an adult child, sibling, grandchild, or friend providing self-directed care.

The $3,083/month figure assumes the commonly-cited maximum of 180 approved hours — your actual approved hours depend entirely on the documented need from your loved one's home assessment, and most families are approved for fewer hours than the maximum.

How approved hours turn into pay

Pay isn't a flat monthly stipend — it's hourly, tied to actual care provided. The sequence looks like this: MDHHS approves a number of monthly hours based on the home assessment, the caregiver logs the hours they actually work through EVV, and payment is issued based on verified hours at $17.13/hr. If fewer hours are worked than approved in a given period, pay reflects the hours actually logged — not the full approved amount.

EVV and getting paid

Electronic Visit Verification isn't a separate hurdle — it's the mechanism that turns hours into pay. Each visit is clocked in and out through the HHAeXchange+ app or a telephony line, and that verified data is what MDHHS uses to process payment. Payments are typically issued via direct deposit into the enrolled provider's bank account once hours are verified and submitted.

A note on taxes

Tax treatment of Home Help pay depends on your specific caregiving arrangement — including factors like whether the caregiver lives with the care recipient, which can affect how the income is classified. This is a real, individualized tax question, and general guidance (including this page) isn't a substitute for advice from a tax professional who can look at your specific situation.

How this compares to agency rates

When a licensed provider agency delivers the care instead of a self-directed family caregiver, the agency bills Medicaid at its own contracted rate and pays its employees according to its own pay structure — which may differ from the $17.13/hr individual provider rate. That's one of the real trade-offs between the self-directed and agency paths: self-direction typically means the full hourly rate goes to the caregiver directly, while an agency absorbs administrative overhead in exchange for handling hiring, backup coverage, and payroll.