Care-type guide
Understanding the California senior-care system.
Sourced from CDPH, CDSS, DHCS, and California Department of Aging records. Each page lists its sources with access dates and is updated when a program changes.
Medi-Cal
Medi-Cal redetermination: keeping coverage at renewal
Most seniors who lose Medi-Cal lose it on paperwork, not eligibility. The annual renewal, ex parte auto-renewal, deadlines, and the 90-day cure period.
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Public programs
PACE: all-inclusive care that keeps a parent at home
For a parent who qualifies for a nursing home but wants to stay home, one team delivers all Medicare and Medi-Cal services. For most with Medi-Cal, it is free.
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Public programs
MSSP: the Multipurpose Senior Services Program
Care management and gap-filling services for nursing-home-eligible seniors who stay home. Capped enrollment, waitlists, and the CalAIM transition.
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Medi-Cal
Medi-Cal estate recovery: what California can take back
Since 2017, recovery reaches only probate assets. Why how the home is titled matters more than the Medi-Cal bill, plus the surviving-spouse and disabled-child protections.
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CalAIM
What is CalAIM and what does it cover for seniors?
The 2022 Medi-Cal reform that adds care management and supplemental services. Does not pay assisted-living rent.
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Medi-Cal
Medicare vs. Medi-Cal for senior care in California
What each covers, the long-term-care gap, and why dual eligibility (Medi-Medi) changes the math.
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IHSS
IHSS eligibility for California seniors, including Protective Supervision
Hours, who qualifies, how a family member can be paid, and how dementia changes the hour calculation.
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IHSS
Does live-in IHSS income count for CalFresh or CalWORKs?
Live-in IHSS wages are excluded from both programs when SOC 2298 is on file. Non-live-in wages are counted. The legal basis, the form, and how to fix a denial that ignored the exclusion.
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Medi-Cal
The Assisted Living Waiver, explained
How Medi-Cal may pay for care services at a participating RCFE, why residents still pay room and board, and where the program operates.
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Medi-Cal
Medi-Cal eligibility for California seniors in 2026
Income limits, the asset limit reinstated on January 1, 2026 ($130,000 single, $195,000 couple), Share of Cost, A&D FPL Program, nursing-home rules, spousal impoverishment.
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Medi-Cal
How to apply for Medi-Cal in California
Three ways to apply, what documents you need, expected processing time, why applications stall, and how to escalate.
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Medi-Cal
Medi-Cal asset limits in California: what changed and what didn't
The asset limit reinstated on January 1, 2026 after the 2024-2025 no-limit window, spousal impoverishment rules, and California's protective estate-recovery rules.
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Medi-Cal
The Medi-Cal asset limit is back: the 2026 $130,000 rule
California reinstated the asset limit on January 1, 2026: $130,000 for one person, $195,000 for a couple, plus $65,000 per added household member. Who it applies to, who is exempt, what counts, and why 2024-2025 transfers are protected.
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