Surgery & Injury Recovery Caregiver Pay

Getting Paid to Care for a Family Member Recovering From Surgery or Injury

After a hip replacement, fracture, or other major surgery or injury, it's common to need hands-on help just to get through daily routines while you heal. If you're already providing that care, you may qualify to get paid for it — though the approval timeline matters more here than it does for longer-term conditions.

By Kinwell · 2 min read · Last updated: July 29, 2026

Who qualifies

Two sets of requirements have to line up:

Your loved one generally needs to:

Be eligible for Michigan Medicaid
Require physical assistance with at least one activity of daily living

You generally need to:

Be at least 18 years old
Be a relative, friend, or neighbor

Per MDHHS, a spouse can't be paid under this program.¹

What kind of care counts

Per MDHHS, the program may pay for help with:

Eating or feeding
Bathing
Dressing
Grooming
Moving throughout the home
Transferring from one position to another
Using the toilet

Weight-bearing restrictions and limited mobility after surgery or an injury — a hip replacement, a fracture, a major procedure — often mean genuine hands-on help with transferring, dressing, or bathing while healing. Wound care can also count as complex care, but only once a physician documents the need and the caregiver is specifically trained. See the full breakdown →

Is it worth applying for a short recovery?

Be realistic about the timeline. Most Kinwell caregivers start seeing pay within 1–2 months from application to approval. If your loved one's recovery is expected to wrap up faster than that — a few weeks after a minor procedure, for example — the approval process may not finish before the extra care is no longer needed.

It tends to be worth applying when:

Recovery is expected to take 2 months or longer
The surgery or injury is layered on top of an already-qualifying ongoing condition — in which case, apply regardless of the recovery timeline
There's real uncertainty about how long recovery will take

A free 2-minute eligibility check can tell you whether you likely qualify before you decide whether it's worth applying. Check your eligibility →

Frequently asked

My mom just had knee surgery and should be back to normal in 3-4 weeks — should I even bother applying? Probably not worth it for a recovery that short on its own, since approval typically takes 1–2 months — by the time you're approved, the extra help may no longer be needed. It's a better fit for longer recoveries (2 months or more), or when the surgery or injury is added on top of an already-qualifying ongoing condition.

References

Cited in this article

1
Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. (n.d.). ASM 135 — Home Help Individual Provider Requirements. mdhhs-pres-prod.michigan.gov. Retrieved July 28, 2026, from https://mdhhs-pres-prod.michigan.gov/olmweb/ex/AS/Public/ASM/135.pdf