Medi-Cal, California’s Medicaid public health insurance program, is dropping its asset test for residents needing long-term care.
July 1, the state will increase the program’s asset limit will increase $2,000 for an individual to $130,000 and $3,000 for a couple to $195,000, with plans to end the limit entirely within the next two-and-a-half years.
“Reforming the asset test will help more older adults to access long-term care but will not solve California’s long-term care affordability crisis. We encourage the governor and his administration to continue working toward a long-term care public benefit option,” Jeannee Parker Martin, CEO and president of LeadingAge California, told the McKnight’s Business Daily.
Unlike Medicare, which is entirely federally funded, Medicaid is funded at both the federal and state levels. Each state can establish its own asset test for Medicaid beneficiaries because the state picks up at least half the tab. According to ElderLaw Answers, California will become the first state to drop the asset test for eligibility.
“California expects few residents to benefit from the higher asset limits,” Forbes senior contributor Howard Gleckman wrote.
According to Gleckman, a health department spokeswoman said the state expects only about 21,000 more people will become eligible under the new 2022 rules and another 18,000 once it eliminates the cap.
That’s not to say that long-term care will be totally free. Even with the removal of the asset test, heirs could still be liable to reimburse Medi-Cal through the estate recovery program. Under this program: “[s]tate Medicaid programs must recover certain Medicaid benefits paid on behalf of a Medicaid enrollee. For individuals age 55 or older, states are required to seek recovery of payments from the individual’s estate for nursing facility services, home and community-based services, and related hospital and prescription drug services. States have the option to recover payments for all other Medicaid services provided to these individuals, except Medicare cost-sharing paid on behalf of Medicare Savings Program beneficiaries.”
The asset test will remain in place for supplemental security income, according to ElderCare Answers.
“In other words, individuals who choose to retain their assets and qualify for Medi-Cal based on income may no longer also qualify for SSI,” ElderCare Answers wrote.
