California will cut the amount of savings and property that older and disabled people can own and still keep Medi-Cal, the state’s Medicaid program, from $130,000 to $21,000 for one person on July 1, 2027, the state Department of Health Care Services says. The limit for two people falls from $195,000 to $31,000. Until June 30, 2027, the current limits stay in place.
The cut is steep. A single person with $50,000 in the bank is $80,000 under today’s limit. By simple subtraction, that same person would be $29,000 over the limit that starts in July 2027.
Who has to stay under the new limit
The Department of Health Care Services, known as DHCS, says on its asset limit page that the limits apply to people 65 or older, people with a physical, mental or developmental disability, people living in a nursing home, and members of families whose income is too high to qualify under federal tax rules. Anyone in one of those groups who applies for Medi-Cal or renews it has to report what they own.
For now, DHCS tells current members they do not need to do anything. The limits come into play when a member applies or renews, and DHCS warns that anyone over the limit at renewal may lose coverage. A member whose renewal falls after July 1, 2027 would be measured against $21,000, not $130,000.
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The asset test itself is not new. California suspended it for a time and brought it back on Jan. 1, 2026, DHCS says. The June 30, 2025 county letter that set up the return says applications received on or after that date require asset reporting, while applications received earlier do not, even if they were decided later. Existing members are checked at their next annual renewal, or sooner if a change in their situation lets the county verify assets.
DHCS lists the household amounts as one number for the first person plus a set amount for each additional person, up to 10 people. Today that add-on is $65,000 per person, which is how a two-person household reaches $195,000, according to a DHCS county letter dated June 30, 2025. From July 1, 2027 the add-on becomes $1,550 for each additional person, with $31,000 as the figure for two. By subtraction, a two-person household loses $164,000 of room, from $195,000 down to $31,000.
What counts toward the $21,000 and what does not
DHCS says the count includes bank accounts, cash, second vehicles, second homes and “other financial resources, no matter where they are.”
The page says a main home, a main vehicle and household items such as furniture and clothes do not count. Retirement funds also do not count when the owner is getting regular payments from them.
Married couples may be treated differently. DHCS says some married couples and registered domestic partners can qualify for higher limits under federal spousal impoverishment rules, and tells them to ask the county Medi-Cal office. The page does not give a dollar figure for those higher limits.
Gifts and transfers before the cut
Families sitting above the new line may wonder whether giving money away first would help. DHCS says that for most people, giving away or selling assets will not affect Medi-Cal. The exception is nursing home care: DHCS says Medi-Cal looks at any assets given away in the 30 months before a person enters the facility.
The page also says transfers made on or after Jan. 1, 2026 may cause a penalty that delays coverage, while earlier transfers are not counted. Transfers to a spouse, to a blind or disabled child, and sales at full value do not cause a loss of coverage, according to DHCS.
Three Social Security-linked groups face an asset test Jan. 1
A separate rule starts earlier for three smaller groups. DHCS Medi-Cal Eligibility Division Chief Sarah Crow wrote in a Sept. 17 letter to counties that asset limits come back on Jan. 1, 2027 for the Pickle, Disabled Adult Child and Disabled Widow or Widower programs, whose asset test was waived under a federal waiver that “remains in effect through December 31, 2026.”
Los Angeles County’s program page describes the groups. Pickle covers people who get Social Security, once received SSI, and lost SSI because of a Social Security cost-of-living raise. Disabled Adult Child covers adults 18 and older who lost SSI when childhood disability benefits began or rose. Disabled Widow or Widower covers people 50 to 64 who lost SSI when survivor benefits rose and who are not yet on Medicare Part A.
Crow’s letter sets the limit for those groups at $130,000 for one person and $65,000 for each additional person. Applications received on or after Jan. 1, 2027 require asset reporting. Current members are measured at their next annual renewal, or earlier if a change in circumstances lets the county verify assets. No asset check is required for months before Jan. 1, 2027, and counties may not refer overpayments for eligibility dates from January 2024 through December 2026. DHCS lists [email protected] for general questions. Whether the July 2027 amounts reach those three groups is not addressed in the letter.
Is savings above $21,000 a Medi-Cal problem after July 2027?
For a single Californian on Medi-Cal for nursing home or in-home care, savings that fit under today’s $130,000 limit would sit above the new one, and DHCS says anyone over the limit at renewal may lose coverage. Gifts made now can also trigger the look-back penalty that delays coverage.
Protect Your Savings From Care Costs is a 10-page guide that explains what Medicare pays for nursing care, and what it won’t, and it ends with a care-plan worksheet to fill in with family. It is a general guide to paying for care, not a California rulebook.
This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
