Written by a parent, not a doctor. Nothing here is medical advice.

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California program

Free health insurance for your child (Medi-Cal)

California’s free Medicaid plan for children under 19 who meet the income rules. Your child can have it alongside work insurance.

What it is

California’s free Medicaid plan for children under 19 who meet the income rules. Your child can have it alongside work insurance.

Medi-Cal can cover your child’s cancer treatment without a premium or copays. It can also pay after work insurance. The county checks who belongs in your child’s household and which income counts.

Who can get it
  • Your child must live in California and be under 19. Immigration status does not exclude an otherwise eligible child.
  • The child income ceiling is 266% of poverty, including the disregard. The January 1, 2026 monthly table gives household sizes 1–8: $3,538; $4,799; $6,057; $7,315; $8,576; $9,835; $11,093; $12,354. These remain 2026 figures, not a 2027 table.
  • Current monthly income is the test. Annual income divided by 12 is only an estimate after a pay change.
  • The county uses tax-household rules (MAGI) to decide whose income counts for your child. This child coverage has no asset test.
With insurance through work
  • Your work plan is billed first. Medi-Cal can pay second without a child premium.
  • The financial counselor can check the exact cancer team, pharmacy and planned care against both plans.
What needs a closer look
  • Keeping two plans means paying the work premium and managing two insurers.
  • For covered Medi-Cal care approved as required, an enrolled clinic or hospital with both insurance details generally cannot bill you the other plan’s deductible, coinsurance or copay. This can hold even when Medi-Cal pays $0. A lawful Medi-Cal Share of Cost is different.
What you get
  • No premium and no copays for your child’s covered care.
  • Hospital and cancer care, medicines, dental and vision.
  • Rides to covered appointments, and home nursing when a separate review approves it.
  • Bills from up to three months before you apply can be covered (two months for applications from January 2027).
What you get
  • For applications submitted before January 1, 2027, Medi-Cal can cover up to three calendar months before the application month if your child qualified in each month. For child applications submitted on or after January 1, 2027, the maximum is two prior months. The application date, not the decision date, selects the rule.
If you decide to apply
  1. Ask the hospital financial counselor about temporary coverage and help with the full BenefitsCal or Covered California application.
  2. Have ready: each parent’s pay stubs or monthly income, your child’s birth date, your address, insurance cards, and any unpaid bills from the last three months with their dates.

(800) 541-5555 Medi-Cal Member Helpline · Official page ↗

What happens next
  • The usual decision standard is 45 days, or 90 when a disability decision is required, with permitted exceptions. Reaching that date does not mean automatic approval.
  • A trained worker at a participating hospital can start temporary Medi-Cal when your child meets its temporary rules (presumptive eligibility). Without a full application, it ends on the last day of the following month. A full application submitted by then keeps temporary coverage open until the county decides. The county’s notice explains any ongoing coverage.
  • Once approved, your child keeps Medi-Cal for 12 months even if income rises, unless they turn 19, move out of California, or you ask to end it.
  • A county notice gives the start date and aid code. The plan-choice packet follows.
Good to know

Your work plan is billed first. Changing coverage needs a check of the exact hospital, cancer team and pharmacy.

What else to know
  • In classic CCS counties, CCS approves cancer care and Medi-Cal fee-for-service pays. Whole Child Model counties deliver CCS services through the Medi-Cal plan.
  • Covered pharmacy claims go through Medi-Cal Rx at 800-977-2273. Clinic-administered chemotherapy follows medical billing.
  • Your other insurance is billed first. For Medi-Cal-covered care approved as required, a participating doctor or hospital with both insurance details generally cannot collect the other plan’s deductible, coinsurance or copay from you. That can hold even when Medi-Cal pays nothing extra. A lawful Medi-Cal Share of Cost or another specifically permitted charge is different. Ask the financial counselor to check the service, the doctor or hospital, and the coverage dates.
  • Keeping both plans means paying the work premium and managing two sets of bills. Before removing your child, ask the employer how much you would actually save and when coverage could be restored.

Federal background: Medicaid, statewide CHIP-funded child coverage, and Medicaid as secondary insurance. CCHIP is a separate three-county additional coverage band.

Official sources
Ask your social worker

“Could Medi-Cal help with our child’s treatment bills, including any costs left by other insurance? What would having it involve, and if you think applying makes sense, could you help us?”

Why I’m asking: I want to understand whether Medi-Cal could reduce treatment bills and how it would work with other insurance.

More background and detailed requirements
Additional program information and published rules

Who does what

The three parts, side by side. The agency decides; nobody on this page does.

You

File the application at BenefitsCal.com this week, hand in pay stubs for the parents at home, and list the work plan if there is one.

Your social worker

The hospital financial counselor starts same-day temporary Medi-Cal the same day. The social worker keeps the county file moving and chases the missing-items list.

The care team

Nothing is needed from the doctors for ordinary child Medi-Cal.

Who decides
The county Medi-Cal eligibility worker (the hospital financial counselor can start temporary coverage the same day)
Ask your social worker
“Can the financial counselor start temporary Medi-Cal today? Will you help me file the full application this week and request coverage for the three months before it?”

How to apply

First step: Ask the hospital financial counselor for same-day temporary Medi-Cal today. File the full application at BenefitsCal.com or call (800) 541-5555.

  1. At the hospital, ask the financial counselor for Hospital Presumptive Eligibility today.
  2. File the full application at BenefitsCal.com in the diagnosis month; ask for the three prior months.
  3. Report the work plan honestly; do not cancel it.

Official application / program page ↗

Where it starts: BenefitsCal or Covered California. Same-day temporary Medi-Cal at the hospital

What to gather

  • Pay stubs or a rough monthly income figure for each parent at home
  • The child's birth date and your address
  • Any insurance cards
  • Unpaid bills from the last three months, with service dates

How long: Generally 45 days for a decision, or 90 when disability must be decided, with permitted exceptions. Qualified-hospital presumptive eligibility ends at the end of the following month without a full application; a timely full application extends it through the eligibility decision.

Clock: temporary Medi-Cal from the hospital ends at the end of the following month. File the full application before then

What a yes looks like

A county decision letter with a start date and an aid code, then a plan-choice packet. In the classic-CCS counties the leukemia care is CCS fee-for-service whichever plan you pick, so pick the plan for the rest of the family's care. In a Whole Child Model county pick the plan that contracts with your treating center.

What a no looks like, and the next move

A county decision letter naming the income limit. Ask the county in writing which categories were checked, ask for the Share of Cost worksheet, and appeal by the date printed on the notice.

Watch out

  • Keep the work plan. Medi-Cal can cover an insured child and pay after that plan.
  • Apply in the diagnosis month and request the three months before it. Applications filed from January 1, 2027 can reach back two months.
  • Immigration status does not matter for a child under 19: full-scope Medi-Cal regardless of status. The 2026 freeze and the 2027 premiums are for adults only.
  • Pharmacy prescriptions go through Medi-Cal Rx (800-977-2273), not the plan. Call it, not the plan, about a rejected prescription.
  • Income-eligible children under 19 can receive full Medi-Cal regardless of immigration status. The adult immigration-related enrollment freeze does not apply to them.

Dates that change this

2026-01-01: 2026 income table (ACWDL 26-01), effective January 1, 2026.

2027-01-01: Retroactive coverage drops from three months to two for applications filed on or after January 1, 2027 (federal change).

2026-10-01: Federal funding narrows on October 1, 2026. California elected the ICHIA option, so children under 19 keep full-scope Medi-Cal regardless of status.

2026-09-18: For an immigration application filed on or after September 18, 2026, a parent's own Medi-Cal can be one factor among many. A citizen child's Medi-Cal is generally not counted against the parent. Do not cancel a child's coverage over this. Ask an immigration lawyer or a DOJ-accredited representative first. (not yet confirmed against the final rule)

The numbers and the rules

The arcane layer, kept on purpose. Checked September 10, 2026.

What it is worth

Cancer care without premiums or copays for a child within the Medi-Cal income limit.

  • $266 — 2026 child income ceiling
  • $7,315/month — Family of 4 monthly income limit

Covers: Hospital, physician and oncology care · Prescription drugs · Dental and vision · EPSDT (everything medically necessary for a child under 21, nursing at home included) · Rides to treatment · IHSS and CCS open behind it

Legal protection: Retroactive coverage for the three months before the application (two months for applications filed on or after 2027-01-01) · 12 months of continuous eligibility once enrolled · Full scope for children under 19 regardless of immigration status

What it costs the family: No premium and no copays for a child.

The eligibility facts, as published

Age min
0
Age max
18
Age max exclusive
19
Income percent fpl
266
Disregard included
yes
Insurance status condition
none (an insured child is enrolled and Medi-Cal pays second)
Asset test
none for MAGI child coverage
Residency
California
Immigration
full scope under 19 regardless of status (ICHIA elected)

Decisions this site cannot make: MAGI household and income · Aid code and plan enrollment

Expect friction on: Plan choice packet from Health Care Options · Renewal every 12 months

The trap: Cancelling the work plan. There is no rule that the child must be uninsured. Keep the plan and let Medi-Cal pay second.

Where I read this

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