Advocates hope to safeguard Medi-Cal savings program for people with disabilities

From a very young age, Hector Ramirez was diagnosed with autism, being hard of hearing and a psychiatric disability. 

As a low-income person, he received Medi-Cal and other public services. However, as an adult, when he worked and had savings of more than $2,000, he had to lose his job to keep his benefits, which were more crucial for him. The $2,000 threshold was first set in 1989. 

“I couldn't save or anything, and if I would lose my job, or if I get sick, I just ended up falling through the safety net twice, and ended up homeless,” he said. 

Ramirez would then sleep in his mother's kitchen, feeling enclosed in a cycle of extreme poverty.

This was until 2018, when the CalABLE program was enacted. CalABLE is California’s implementation of the federal Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Act, which allows states to create savings and investment accounts for individuals with disabilities. They can maintain their public benefits while working toward financial independence without the fear of losing access to state or federal benefits.

The program, run by the California State Treasurer’s Office, allows Californians with disabilities to contribute to their savings account up to $19,000 annually up to $100,000  without affecting benefits like Supplemental Security Income (SSI). Before CalABLE, people who applied for benefits like SSI, SSDI, Medicaid, SNAP, TANF, HUD Assistance, Section 8, etc., couldn’t have savings of more than $2,000. 

“I thought it was really important, because for many people with disabilities, it's very difficult,” said Ramirez. “So people like myself, especially people of color, were noticing that it was less difficult to not only get a job, but keep it, because [before] if we kept a job and we made even one dollar over the amount, we would lose all of our benefits, and sometimes our employers wouldn't provide them.” 

Advocating for the program

Thomas Martin, executive director of CalABLE, said that people currently are able to save and still meet the criteria for Medical eligibility.  However, the legislature and the governor are looking at potential cuts to Medi-Cal and that may include changing eligibility for Medicare. 

“If the proposal goes through, what would happen is, anyone with more than $2,000 to their name wouldn't be eligible,” said Martin. “Meaning $2,001 in a bank account or something like that, they wouldn't qualify for Medi Cal unless they spent down.”

Martin said there are currently about 14,000 people signed up in the CalABLE account in California. 

He said CalABLE is an important program for people with disabilities to save for the future, to protect benefits and save money for themselves and their kids. 

CalABLE data indicates that since its implementation, the disability community has saved nearly $200 million across more than 14,000 CalABLE accounts. Just last year, assets grew by 32%, underscoring the increasing demand for secure, accessible financial tools that protect public benefits. 

The CalABLE program is still in effect and there are hundreds of thousands of people eligible, including Medi-Cal recipients. To verify if you qualify visit: https://calable.ca.gov/how-it-works/eligibility