Medicaid is supposed to be a safety net for the poor, but California has turned it into welfare for the wealthy. In California, literally no amount of wealth now disqualifies someone from eligibility. Last year, the state eliminated its asset test for Medicaid, which the state refers to as Medi-Cal.
By scrapping asset limits, the state lets high-net-worth seniors tap its costliest long-term care (LTC) benefits—sticking federal taxpayers with the bill. A new Paragon Health Institute brief, “Medi-Calamity,” exposes this reckless expansion, detailing its fallout and urging reforms to restore both sanity and fairness.
On January 1, 2024, California axed its Medi-Cal asset test—welcoming anyone, rich or poor, onto the rolls. Anyone in California can now be on welfare. Home worth millions of dollars? No problem. An IRA with millions? You are welcome on Medicaid in California.
People with high incomes qualify too, since private health costs, such as nursing home expenses, are deducted before an income limit kicks in. The result? An extra 112,000 enrollees and $1.4 billion in costs, worsened by California’s also extending Medi-Cal to undocumented immigrants.
To fund these excesses, California taxes providers and insurers, leveraging federal matching funds in a budget gimmick, tantamount to money laundering.
