Free tool
Could Medi-Cal help pay for care?
Six questions based on the 2026 rules, including the new asset limit. You will see what may apply, what it pays for, and what it does not. Free, no sign-up.
Want a copy of your results?
We will send them to you. Add a phone number if you would like someone to call and talk through the options. Nobody will call unless you give us a number.
This is an estimate to help you plan, not a quote or an eligibility decision. Call us at (747) 210-9358 and we will give you real numbers for your situation.
What changed in 2026
On January 1, 2026, California reinstated an asset limit for older adults on Medi-Cal: $130,000 for one person, plus $65,000 for each additional household member. It applies to the Aged, Blind and Disabled program, Medi-Cal with a share of cost, long-term care, and the Medicare Savings Programs. Their home, one car, household items, and retirement accounts paying regular distributions do not count.
The income limit for free Medi-Cal under the Aged and Disabled program is 138 percent of the federal poverty level: about $1,836 a month for one person and $2,490 for a couple, effective April 1, 2026. DHCS updates it each spring.
What Medi-Cal will and will not pay for
This is the part most families get wrong. Medi-Cal programs for assisted living, including CalAIM Community Supports and the Assisted Living Waiver, pay for the care services in a licensed home. They do not pay room and board. The resident pays that from their own income, usually Social Security or SSI.
For someone on SSI and SSP, the 2026 payment for an older adult living in a licensed care home is $1,626.07 a month, of which they keep at least $182 for personal needs.
A note on how we work
GentlePlacement is not a contracted CalAIM Community Supports provider and does not work for any health plan. When a family qualifies, we submit the referral to the contracted agencies whose care navigators handle the authorization, and we stay with it until there is an answer.
Sources
- California DHCS, ACWDL 25-18: Medi-Cal asset limits from January 1, 2026, and the 30-month look-back
- California DHCS, ACWDL 26-01: 2026 federal poverty levels (Aged and Disabled program effective April 1, 2026)
- California DHCS, 2026 FPL calculation chart, monthly values (ACWDL 26-01, Enclosure 1)
- California DHCS, SSI/SSP payment standards effective January 1, 2026
- California DHCS, Assisted Living Waiver enrollment and waitlist, January 2019 through February 2026
- Justice in Aging, Reinstatement of the Medi-Cal asset limit (plain-language FAQ)
- California Health Care Foundation, Assisted Living Waiver and CalAIM Community Supports (2025)
- U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Pension rates
- U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Survivors Pension rates
Questions families ask
Is this an official eligibility decision?
No. Only your county social services office and the Department of Health Care Services can decide Medi-Cal eligibility. This is a screening to help you understand where you likely stand and what to ask.
Does Medi-Cal look at the house?
Their primary home is exempt while they live in it, or intend to return to it. Estate recovery rules after death are a separate question, and worth asking an elder law attorney about.
Should we transfer money to get under the limit?
Not without legal advice. Medi-Cal looks back 30 months for transfers made to qualify for long-term care, and a mistake can delay coverage.
Rather just talk it through?
We will call you back the same business day. There is no cost to your family. The care home pays our placement fee.