(The Center Square) – New limits on financial assets for Medi-Cal recipients are expected to kick many beneficiaries off the taxpayer-funded healthcare program.
According to the final version of the state’s budget, Medicaid – known as Medi-Cal in California – will reduce the allowable asset limits from $130,000 for an individual to $21,000. That means that between checking accounts, savings accounts, investments, real estate that is not the primary home, cars and life insurance, those who get healthcare through Medi-Cal will only be able to have a collective $21,000.
The asset limit reductions will affect couples, too. They will have their eligibility affected if they have more than $31,000 worth of assets, a drastic reduction in the asset limit from the current $195,000.
The new asset reduction limits will take effect on July 1, 2027. The lower asset limits came amid a $348.5 million reduction from the general fund for the 2027-28 fiscal year, according to the state budget. A projected $407 million reduction is expected in subsequent years.
“What is in the budget pushes back against the most harmful proposals and buys our communities a very important thing, which is critical time to pursue creative structural solutions to some of the challenges that we will continue to face,” Assemblymember Mia Bonta, D-Oakland and chair of the Assembly Health Committee, told The Center Square via email on Thursday. “It also acknowledges, with several revenue proposals, that we cannot avoid the great harm to Californians that has been imposed on us by the federal administration by simply cutting our way to it.”
The push to reduce limits on assets to qualify for Medi-Cal angered at least one lawmaker, who told The Center Square on Thursday that reducing eligibility was the wrong move.
“Not only did Sacramento just pass $14 billion in new taxes, including a new tax on health plans that will drive up premiums, they’re also slashing the Medi-Cal asset limit from $130,000 to $21,000,” Sen. Suzette Martinez Valladares, R-Santa Clarita, told The Center Square via email. “That punishes seniors and people with disabilities for saving a modest amount for emergencies. Before telling seniors they’ve saved too much to qualify for care, the state should root out waste and fraud and get its priorities straight.”
Officials from the California Commission on Aging, who sent out a press release raising alarm over the issue, did not make themselves available for an interview for this story. Numbers from the California Health Care Foundation show that more than 1.7 million Californians rely on Medi-Cal, including roughly 1.1 million of the state’s residents who are 65 or older.
Staff from the California Health Care Foundation declined an interview for this story on Thursday and referred The Center Square to an organization called Justice in Aging. Officials from that group did not respond to The Center Square.
According to the Department of Health Care Services, California passed a law in January that requires Medi-Cal to count assets for some Medi-Cal programs. The new asset limits also allow households to add $1,550 for every person who lives in the household, up to 10 people, according to department spokesman Anthony Cava.
Cava declined to be interviewed for this story and did not make anyone else from the department available for an interview. Executives with private insurers, including the Santa Clara Family Health Plan, did not respond to The Center Square’s request for comment.
The California Legislature previously increased asset limits, allowing more people to qualify for Medi-Cal. In 2022, lawmakers raised the asset limits from $2,000 for individuals to $130,000. Limits were increased from $3,000 for couples to $195,000, according to a 2023 report from the Department of Health Care Services.
