The Brevy Eldercare Guide
Expert resources to help you navigate eldercare benefit programs and support.
Caregiver Burnout: Signs, Causes, and Where to Get Help
If you're caring for an aging parent or spouse and you've started snapping at the people you love, crying in your car before going inside, or lying awake at 3 a.m.
Medicaid Planning Strategies: How to Qualify Without Going Broke
Medicaid pays for most long-term care in America, but the program is means-tested.
How to Find Respite Care in Michigan
If you're a family caregiver in Michigan, respite care isn't a luxury.
Medicare Plans and Coverage in Michigan
Michigan has approximately 2 million Medicare beneficiaries, with more turning 65 each year than nearly any other state.
VA Benefits You Can Use for Senior Care in Michigan
Michigan is home to approximately 570,000 veterans. A sizable share qualify for VA senior care benefits they're not using.
How to Get VA Aid and Attendance in Michigan
VA Aid & Attendance (A&A) is one of the most underutilized benefits available to senior Michigan veterans and their surviving spouses.
Does Michigan Medicaid Cover Dental?
Yes. Since April 1, 2023, Michigan Medicaid has covered adult dental at near-parity with the state's Healthy Kids Dental benefit.
How to Pay for Senior Care in Michigan
Senior care in Michigan costs between $25/hour for private home care and $14,000/month for a private nursing home room in Detroit. Few families can cover either out of pocket for long.
Home Care vs. Home Health in Michigan: What's the Difference?
These two terms sound interchangeable, but they aren't. Home health is short-term, skilled medical care.
How to Choose a Memory Care Facility in Michigan
If you're reading this, chances are you're somewhere in the hardest stretch of caregiving: the moment when you realize the home care plan that was working six months ago is no longer enough.
How to Choose an Assisted Living Facility in Michigan
Before you tour an assisted living community in Michigan, there's one thing worth knowing: Michigan does not license "assisted living" as a category. The term is marketing.
How to Choose a Nursing Home in Michigan
Michigan has approximately 440 licensed and Medicare-certified nursing homes.
Caregiver Programs Available to You in Michigan
Family caregivers in Michigan have access to more programs than most realize. Some pay the caregiver directly. Some provide free training, respite, and support groups.
How to Choose a Michigan Medicaid Health Plan
Most Michigan Medicaid members are required to enroll in a Medicaid Health Plan (MHP), Michigan's name for its mandatory managed care organizations.
What You Need to Know About MI Coordinated Health
On January 1, 2026, Michigan replaced the MI Health Link dual-eligible demonstration with a new program: MI Coordinated Health (MICH).
How to Get on a Michigan HCBS Waiver
Michigan runs four Section 1915(c) Home and Community-Based Services waivers plus several state-plan HCBS programs.
What Does Michigan Medicaid Cover for Seniors?
Once a senior qualifies for Michigan Medicaid, the next question is always the same: what does it actually pay for? The short answer: a lot, often more than people expect.
How to Get Paid to Care for a Family Member in Michigan
Six separate Michigan programs pay family members to provide care for an aging parent, spouse, or loved one. Some pay through Medicaid, some through the VA, and some through private funding sources.
How the Michigan Home Help Program Pays You to Care for a Loved One
The Michigan Home Help Program is the state's most-used pathway for paid family caregiving.
How to Get Medicaid to Pay for a Nursing Home in Michigan
Michigan nursing homes cost roughly $10,000 to $14,000 per month. Very few families can pay that out of pocket for long.
What You Need to Know About the MI Choice Waiver
The MI Choice Waiver is Michigan's primary Medicaid program for adults who need nursing-facility-level care but want to stay at home, in an assisted living facility, or in an adult foster care home.
How to Apply for Michigan Medicaid
You can apply for Michigan Medicaid in three ways: online through the MI Bridges portal, on paper using the MDHHS-1171 Assistance Application, or in person at your county MDHHS office.
Which Michigan Medicaid Program Is Right for You?
If you or a parent is 65 or older and need help paying for health care, long-term care, or help at home, Michigan Medicaid has a path for you. But the program is not one program.
What Is Nursing Facility Level of Care (NFLOC)?
NFLOC is the single clinical test that decides whether Medicaid will pay for long-term care at all.
What Is a Miller Trust (Qualified Income Trust)?
Without a Miller Trust, a senior living in an income-cap state can be stuck in what the Miller v.
What Are Consumer Directed Services (CDS)?
Traditional Medicaid long-term care is "agency-directed": the state contracts with a home care agency, the agency assigns a caregiver, and the member gets whoever shows up.
What Is an HCBS Waiver?
Most families want their parent, spouse, or child to stay at home.
What Is a Managed Care Organization (MCO)?
If you or a family member is on Medicaid in most states, your MCO (not "Medicaid" directly) decides which doctors you can see, which services get approved, and how disputes are handled.
Can I Get Paid to Take Care of My Parents in Texas?
Yes. If your parent qualifies for Medicaid or VA benefits, there are real programs that will pay you to provide their care.
Medicare vs. Medicaid: What's the Difference?
Medicare and Medicaid sound almost identical, but they are two completely different programs. Medicare is federal health insurance based on age or disability.
What Is a Medicaid Spend Down? Texas Explained
A Medicaid spend down is a process where you reduce your income or assets to meet Medicaid's eligibility limits.
What Are Activities of Daily Living (ADLs)?
ADLs aren't just a medical checklist. They're the yardstick that insurance companies, Medicaid programs, and the VA use to decide who qualifies for care benefits.
What Is Medicaid Spend-Down?
Many seniors have income slightly above their state's Medicaid limit, leaving them stuck: too much income for Medicaid, not enough to pay for care out of pocket. Spend-down programs close that gap.
How to Choose a Memory Care Facility in Texas
Memory care in Texas costs an average of about $5,356 per month in 2026, which is well below the national average of $7,505.
How to Get Medicaid to Pay for a Nursing Home in Texas
Texas Medicaid pays for nursing home care in full for people who qualify, and unlike home-based waiver programs, there's no waitlist.
VA Benefits You Can Use for Senior Care in Texas
If your loved one is a veteran, the VA offers more senior care benefits than most families realize.
How to Choose an Assisted Living Facility in Texas
Assisted living in Texas costs an average of $4,570 per month in 2026, though that number swings a lot depending on where you are.
Respite Care in Texas: A Guide for Family Caregivers
If you're caring for an aging parent or spouse, you already know what burnout feels like.
How to Get VA Aid and Attendance in Texas
VA Aid and Attendance is a pension benefit that adds money to a veteran's monthly payment when they need regular help with daily activities like bathing, dressing, or eating.
Medicare Plans and Coverage in Texas
If you're turning 65 or helping a parent sort out Medicare in Texas, you're dealing with four parts, dozens of plan options, and annual costs that change every January.
How to Pay for Senior Care in Texas
Senior care in Texas runs anywhere from $1,950/month for part-time home care to $6,250/month for a private nursing home room. Most families can't cover that out of pocket forever.
Does Texas Medicaid Cover Dental in Texas?
Does Texas Medicaid cover dental for adults? The short answer: barely. Base Texas Medicaid covers emergency dental care for adults but not routine cleanings, fillings, or dentures.
Caregiver Programs Available to You in Texas
Texas has more caregiver support programs than most families realize.
How to Choose a Nursing Home in Texas
A semi-private room in a Texas nursing home costs about $5,080 per month in 2026, which is roughly half what you'd pay in most other states.
How to Choose a Texas Medicaid Managed Care Plan
If your parent just qualified for Texas Medicaid, one of the first decisions is picking a managed care plan. Seven MCOs run the STAR+PLUS program, but not all of them serve every part of the state.
Home Care vs Home Health in Texas: What's the Difference?
If you're looking into home care vs home health in Texas, the short answer is this: home care helps with daily life (bathing, meals, companionship), and home health provides medical treatment at home
How to Get on a Texas HCBS Waiver Program
Texas runs seven home and community based services (HCBS) waiver programs, but only one is built specifically for seniors: the STAR+PLUS HCBS waiver.
How to Get Paid as a Family Caregiver in Texas
If you're already showing up every day to help your mom or dad with meals, bathing, and doctor visits, you should know there are real programs that will pay you for that work.
What Does Texas Medicaid Cover for Seniors?
Texas Medicaid covered services for seniors 65 and older go well beyond basic doctor visits.
What You Need to Know About Texas STAR+PLUS
The Texas STAR+PLUS program is the state's Medicaid managed care system for adults 21 and older who have disabilities or are age 65+.
Which Texas Medicaid Program Is Right for You?
If you're trying to figure out which Texas Medicaid programs for seniors your parent or loved one qualifies for, you're not alone.
How to Apply for Medicaid in Texas
Applying for Medicaid in Texas starts with one form — the H1200 — and you can submit it online, by phone, in person, or by mail. HHSC has 45 days to make a decision for applicants 65 and older.