In-Home Dementia Care in Michigan

Paying for care in Michigan: MI Choice Waiver Program

Medicare does not pay for the long-term help dementia requires. In Michigan the programme that can is MI Choice, administered by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, delivered through regional waiver agencies - for Detroit, the five Grosse Pointes, Hamtramck, Harper Woods and Highland Park, that agency is the Detroit Area Agency on Aging.

Who qualifies

MI Choice is for people aged 65 and over, or adults 18 and over with a disability, who have multiple medical and service needs and who need the programme to avoid moving into a nursing home. A care manager coordinates the services once someone is enrolled. The cited page does not describe any dementia-specific eligibility route, so ask the office that administers the programme how a dementia diagnosis is weighed in that assessment.

The financial limits

Single applicant

Not reliably published: the cited agency page states the asset limit in monthly terms and gives figures that contradict its own income limit, so no number here can be trusted. Confirm the current limit with the Detroit Area Agency on Aging.

Married couple

Not reliably published on the cited page; confirm with the agency that administers the programme locally.

Look-back period

Not published on the cited page; standard Michigan Medicaid transfer-of-asset rules apply

How to apply

Contact the regional waiver agency for where the person lives - the Detroit Area Agency on Aging covers Detroit, the five Grosse Pointes, Hamtramck, Harper Woods and Highland Park. The agency screens for eligibility and assigns a care manager who builds and coordinates the service package. MDHHS makes the financial eligibility decision separately, so expect correspondence from them as well as from the agency.

What is unusual about Michigan

MI Choice is delivered by the regional Area Agency on Aging rather than a single statewide office, so which agency a family deals with depends on their address - and Detroit itself is served by a different agency from most of the surrounding metro counties.

Rules and figures change. Confirm the current position with the programme itself before making a financial decision.