The Medi-Cal program is a jointly administered federal/state government health insurance program. In California, it is called Medi-Cal.
Most senior citizens who worked throughout their lives will qualify for Medicare coverage. This is also a government run health insurance program. If you qualify for Medicare, you won’t need Medi-Cal at first, and you probably wouldn’t be eligible, because Medi-Cal is a need-based program. People who have a reasonable store of assets cannot qualify.
In spite of the above, many people who were qualified for Medicare coverage do ultimately seek Medi-Cal eligibility.
Why would this be the case? Medicare will help with your medical expenses, but it does not cover long-term care. Medi-Cal does pay for skilled nursing care, and this is why Medi-Cal is important to many seniors.
We should point out the fact that most elders will eventually need living assistance, so this is a matter that is relevant to everyone.
People typically engage in a process called a Medi-Cal spend down so that they can obtain eligibility. The term is largely self-explanatory. When you spend down, you give away assets before you apply for Medi-Cal coverage.
However, this is more complicated than it may appear to be on the surface. In California, there is currently a 30 month look-back. You have to complete your gift giving at least 30 months before you apply for coverage, or your application will be denied.
There is also the matter of your own well-being. You could give away your assets and find that you never need long-term care, so you have to plan ahead in an informed manner.
Medi-Cal Planning Workshop
Now that we have provided some general information about the Medi-Cal program and why it is relevant, we would like to invite you to our upcoming Medi-Cal planning workshop. There is a lot of information to sort through if you are interested in future Medi-Cal coverage, and you can obtain a great deal of information at this workshop.
The workshop is being held in our office on Thursday, April 21st, and it will start at 4:00 p.m. and run for about an hour and a half. Our office is located at 3425 S. Bascom Avenue, Suite 240 in Campbell, California.
There is no admission charge, but we do ask that you register in advance, because the workshop is limited to just 20 attendees. The Medi-Cal Planning Workshops fill up quickly, so we encourage you to register for the April session as soon as possible.
If you are interested in obtaining more details about this workshop, you can visit this page: April Medi-Cal Planning Workshop.