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AB-1649 • 2026

Medi-Cal: monthly maintenance amount: personal and incidental needs.

Medi-Cal: monthly maintenance amount: personal and incidental needs.

Healthcare
Active

The official status still shows this bill as active or still awaiting another formal step.

Sponsor
Ahrens
Last action
Official status
Assembly - Health
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The official text states increases are required annually 'as specified,' but does not provide the specific formula or dollar amounts for future years in this summary.

Medi-Cal Personal Needs Allowance Increase

This bill raises the monthly amount kept by Medi-Cal patients in care facilities for personal needs from $35 to $50 and requires yearly increases, subject to federal approval.

What This Bill Does

  • Increases the monthly maintenance allowance for personal and incidental needs from $35 to $50.
  • Requires that this allowance be increased every year according to a specific schedule.
  • Makes these changes dependent on receiving necessary federal approvals.

Who It Names or Affects

  • Medically needy persons living in medical institutions or nursing facilities.
  • People receiving institutional or noninstitutional services from a Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly organization.

Terms To Know

Medi-Cal
A state program administered by the Department of Health Care Services that provides health care to qualified low-income individuals, partly governed and funded by federal Medicaid provisions.
Monthly maintenance amount
The portion of income a medically needy person can keep for basic needs like food, clothing, and shelter while in a facility or receiving specific services.

Limits and Unknowns

  • The bill only takes effect if necessary federal approvals are received.
  • The text does not specify the exact date when these changes would begin.
  • The source states increases must happen annually as specified but does not detail the specific calculation method for those future amounts.

Bill History

  1. California Legislative Information

    Assembly - Health

Official Summary Text

Medi-Cal: monthly maintenance amount: personal and incidental needs.