Medi-Cal and assets

[JTA Mom]

I'm wracking my brain right now and not finding any answers online about this. Since this forum seems to hold really smart & knowledgeable and btdt people, I'd thought to try here. This is long, but I want to give as much pertinent info as possible.

We're expecting. Not planned. At all. We're keeping it.

So, since we have no insurance, we need to go on state health insurance for this pregnancy. With ds, I had to go on Medi-Cal, but that was a very different time (both dh and I were full time students, not married, etc). So I'm not completely oblivious to the process, but when first on it we literally didn't have a dime to our names. We pay out of pocket for the rare doctor's visits we've needed.

This time around, we own a car. A newer car (07), but it's a base Honda Fit
(cheap). We have about 4k in savings, but I have a feeling that that is going to be used up soon since we're going to need to move with this baby (it's taken us 2+ years to save that up too). We're currently renting a room from MIL. One room is enough for 3, but not 4. Scouring the ads, the cheapest rent is going to be $900 a month. We take home about $1800 a month.

Last September, dh got a letter in the mail. Apparently his mom set up a trust fund for him that rolled over that year. It's now a mutual fund, with about 6k in it.

We also set up a college fund for ds. MIL, my mom and other relatives have contributed to it (we haven't yet, so none of the $$$ is ours). It's under MIL and dh's name and currently has around $1k in it.

So, on paper, it looks like we have a bunch of $$$ that really isn't there or wouldn't last more than a few months with rent here. When MIL finds out about this pregnancy, we are out. Literally.

Do we have to 'spend down' this amount before qualifying? I'm afraid they'll look at assets, put us on a 'pay out of pocket' plan that, in a few months we won't be able to afford. I'm not even sure how much $$ we would get if we pulled everything out of the mutual fund, kwim? To make matters worse, we need a different car too, since 2 car seats will not fit into the car we have and leave dh room to either be a passenger or a driver.

Ami

[RooRooDog]

No meaningful advice to give on the Medical, but would a combi coccoro fit in your car? They are quite small.

[JTA Mom]

Originally Posted by RooRooDog

No meaningful advice to give on the Medical, but would a combi coccoro fit in your car? They are quite small.

Those are cute, but wow! Same price as a radian. How is their angle for rear-facing?

We have a Radian and a Graco Comfortsport (I think, it was a Target baby sale for $30). Both are pretty narrow in width (especially without the Graco cupholder), it's the angle that they need to be at to rearface them the right way that's the problem.

Both will be rear-facing (ds will be ERF). With the backseat as small as it is, both seats will take it up completely width-wise. Right now, with just ds, we can shuffle around, moving his seat if dh wants to drive, etc. Both seats will fit, but the front seats will be pushed up way too much to be comfortable for dh. I would be fine since I'm short (5'2).

We could turn ds around, but I just feel safer with him rear-facing as long as possible, especially since he's always been on the smaller (5th percentile) side.

Ami

[alicia622]

No advice about the medical but you might want to post this on the california tribe.

[nataliachick7]

Can you take money out of your accounts and stash it at home/somewhere safe?

[JTA Mom]

Originally Posted by nataliachick7

Can you take money out of your accounts and stash it at home/somewhere safe?

We 'could' but that doesn't feel right. Thing is, once we move out, we might need to tap into those funds for a few months. And dh isn't going to budge about ds' college fund at all (neither would I).

The mutual fund, I'm not sure. The penalties for withdrawing might be pretty big, need to check.

Of course, we haven't gotten our Tax return yet either.

Is there any other way other than pulling everything out and stashing it in the mattress?

Ami

[sunnysandiegan]

My info is old (2001-2002), so hopefully you can verify it soon. When DH & I were both unemployed, only our child qualified for medi-cal without us having to "pay down" our assets. Does your DS have medi-cal or Healthy Families? Whoever you contact for that will know the answer or be able to direct you to the right people to get the answer.

You don't have to give specifics in order to get the information you want. I just asked general questions when I called. Our house was protected, but everything else was considered an asset that prevented us adults from qualifying. I was not pregnant at the time, though, so I don't know if that changes the answer.

[Rosebud1]

My experience is a bit more recent -- last year -- in California. My two cents:

1. they are waaaaay more likely to cover kids (or kids to be?) than adults (covered my DD, not me or DH)

2. all assets are considered -- even retirement plans. Everything in your bank account. We own a storage trailer and even that counted heavily against us. And the limit for assets or funds is ridiculously low -- something like 3g for a family of three!

3. They will ask for a mountain of documentation. It took me two months to enroll DD. So much paperwork.

4. They are more liberal and fastracked when it comes to pregnancy. I wasn't pregnant when we applied. I get the impression that pregnant women would qualify more easily.

[JTA Mom]

Thanks Rosebud and Sunnysandiegan!

I'm only interested in pregnancy-only Medi-Cal. I know they work faster for that one.

Rosebud, I agree the asset limit is insanely low! And then you are excluded from any of the 'higher' tiers of coverage due to not having enough income. It sucks.

I don't want to spend down an 'cushion' we may need, but I don't want to hide it either. What will it help if we end up homeless because we didn't have any $$ set aside for rent, kwim?

Ami

[Smithie]

If it were you, I'd move into an apartment ASAP, and go apply for Medi-Cal as soon as the check you write out for first, last and security has cleared your checking account. Because that is pretty much going to wipe out your 4k savings.

With regard to the 6k in the mutual fund, I just don't know what they're gong to do about that. I'd be very tempted to hide it in some way, not so much because I didn't want to contribute to the cost of my own care as I was able, but because its very existence might delay/confuse the process for getting enrolled in Medi-Cal, and that's the last thing you need when you're pregnant!

Maybe that 6k could be used to buy a bigger car? Because ERF in for two kids with a Fit and a tall DH is just not a very tenable long-term plan. You could close the mutual fund for that purpose, trade in the Fit, and any cash left over you could hide under your mattress for a rainy day?

Congratulations on your, um, "happy accident"!

[Satori]

You have to much in liquid assets to qualify, I think the limits are $2k in savings and nothing else you can liquidate. Your allowed to own 1 home which you live in and 1 car.

[JTA Mom]

Satori and Smithie, do you know if they count ds' college fund?

We've been toying with trading in the fit, but we are also looking into getting a cheap used Mazda van for us to use with the kids. I'm not completely excited about trading in a new, pretty reliable vehicle for a crappy car. But the used Mazda van won't cost more than 2k.

Anyone know if due to the assets they will bump us up to one of the 'paying' plans?

It is really annoying that I've got to wipe everything out. That savings would be a buffer for us until dh or I get a better paying job/extra job so that we would use even less social services. With it we don't need food stamps, WIC, or anything else other than OB care. Of course, without it and with rent taking half of our take home (which is everything since we maxed out our exemptions) it gets dicey because we will literally be on the edge--unable to save for emergencies.

It's also annoying because we've been super super frugal saving instead of spending, etc. It feels weird to just 'blow' it all.

Now if this baby had waited a few more months and dh had gotten into the academy......wishful thinking, right?

Ami

[Satori]

Originally Posted by JTA Mom

Satori and Smithie, do you know if they count ds' college fund?

We've been toying with trading in the fit, but we are also looking into getting a cheap used Mazda van for us to use with the kids. I'm not completely excited about trading in a new, pretty reliable vehicle for a crappy car. But the used Mazda van won't cost more than 2k.

Anyone know if due to the assets they will bump us up to one of the 'paying' plans?

It is really annoying that I've got to wipe everything out. That savings would be a buffer for us until dh or I get a better paying job/extra job so that we would use even less social services. With it we don't need food stamps, WIC, or anything else other than OB care. Of course, without it and with rent taking half of our take home (which is everything since we maxed out our exemptions) it gets dicey because we will literally be on the edge--unable to save for emergencies.

It's also annoying because we've been super super frugal saving instead of spending, etc. It feels weird to just 'blow' it all.

Now if this baby had waited a few more months and dh had gotten into the academy......wishful thinking, right?

Ami

If you can liquidate the fund then they will count it I think. I would apply and see what they say. You really don't want share of cost medi-cal, you will pay though the nose so to speak, it would be cheaper to get a private policy then share of cost in many cases.