If your child has Medi-Cal coverage, you may have received a letter or email from Medi-Cal about reinstating asset limits in California. Here’s what you need to know:
- Starting January 1, 2026, the Medi-Cal renewal process will include providing information income and assets to make sure all recipients are under the limit of $130,000. You will be asked for this information during the regular annual renewal period for your child’s coverage.
- If your child is on a Medi-Cal waiver, like the HCBA waiver or the HCBS-DD waiver for Regional Center clients, only your child’s income/assets are counted. Any parent income/assets will not be deemed to your child.
- If your child has assets in their name that you want to transfer to avoid the asset limit of $130,000, note that there may be transfer penalties in 2026. You can learn more about them here.
- If you are not due to renew Medi-Cal anytime soon, the only thing you need to do is check to make sure Medi-Cal has your updated address so that you’ll receive your mail notices and renewal paperwork as usual.
Note that this change is only in California and does not affect Supplemental Security Income (SSI); the SSI asset limit is still $2,000. If you want to learn more about preventing your child’s assets from making them ineligible for Medi-Cal or SSI, check out our article about ABLE accounts and special needs trusts.
If you have further questions, don’t hesitate to reach out to a member of Team Undivided!
