What If Your Loved One's Care Needs Increase?

Approved hours aren't set in stone

The hours you're approved for come from an in-home assessment of the physical assistance needed at that time. As a condition progresses — dementia, Parkinson's, a recovery that isn't going as expected — the amount of hands-on help required can increase, and the approved hours can be reassessed to reflect that.

How to request a reassessment

• Contact your Kinwell care team (or your MDHHS caseworker, if self-directed) and explain what's changed
• A new in-home assessment gets scheduled
• An adult services worker reviews the current care needs and adjusts the approved hours accordingly

It helps to be specific: concrete examples of the added care needed (“now needs help transferring in and out of bed,” for example) carry more weight than a general sense that “things are harder.”

How often can hours be reassessed?

MDHHS doesn't publish a fixed interval. Reassessments are typically triggered by a change in condition rather than running on an automatic schedule — if you believe more hours are needed, you can request a new assessment rather than waiting for a routine review.

Frequently asked

Can hours ever decrease instead of increase? Yes — reassessments reflect current need in either direction. If care needs lessen, approved hours can be adjusted down the same way they can be adjusted up.

Related reading

• Medicaid Family Caregiver Pay in Michigan: The Complete Guide
• Michigan Caregiver Application Checklist: What You'll Need
• Michigan Medicaid Home Help Program: Eligibility & How It Works
• Getting Paid to Care for a Parent With Dementia or Alzheimer's
• Full FAQ