Not returning a renewal packet can end your coverage under Medi-Cal, California's Medicaid program, even if you still qualify. Federal law requires the county to try to renew your coverage automatically from data it already holds before it ever asks you for paperwork, but when a renewal form does arrive, it has to come back on time. This guide explains how California Medicaid recertification and renewal works in 2026, what to do when your packet arrives, and the 90-day window to recover if you miss the deadline.

Renew at BenefitsCal.com · Medi-Cal Member Helpline: 1-800-541-5555

Eligibility for Medicaid is set once at application and redetermined every 12 months after that. A renewal that closes for procedural reasons usually means the person stayed eligible but did not return the form in time, which is what the 90-day reconsideration window below is built to fix.

DHCS says about one-third of Californians receive health care services it administers. Its Fast Facts report published in July 2026 puts total Medi-Cal certified eligibles at 13,910,180 as of April 2026. The single state agency is the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS), but eligibility determinations and renewals are handled locally by California's 58 counties, all running on the shared California Statewide Automated Welfare System (CalSAWS) with BenefitsCal.com as the member portal.

In This Guide

How the California Medicaid renewal cycle works

Under federal eligibility rules (42 CFR 435.916), Medi-Cal eligibility is redetermined once every 12 months for most beneficiaries., Your renewal month is set at approval and stays the same: approved in October, you renew every October.

Renewals split into two paths by eligibility category:

  • MAGI populations (children, pregnant enrollees, parents and caretaker relatives, and adult-expansion enrollees under the Affordable Care Act): renewed using Modified Adjusted Gross Income methodology. Income is checked against federal data sources, primarily Social Security Administration records and Internal Revenue Service tax data, routed through the CalSAWS system.
  • Non-MAGI populations (Aged, Blind, and Disabled; institutional long-term care; Home and Community-Based Services waivers; Medicare Savings Programs; and Medically Needy share-of-cost cases): renewed under the non-MAGI framework, which includes an asset test. Federal law requires every state to verify assets at renewal through an Asset Verification System (Section 1940 of the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. 1396w), so non-MAGI renewals clear automatically less often than MAGI renewals, which have no asset test; expect to document your resources.

The asset test is newly relevant in California. Under AB 116 (Chapter 21, Statutes of 2025), the non-MAGI asset test was reinstated effective January 1, 2026, at $130,000 for one person plus $65,000 for each additional household member (so $195,000 for a couple), after California had eliminated its non-MAGI asset limits in 2024. Those limits are temporary. DHCS states they hold through June 30, 2027, and that starting July 1, 2027 the limit drops to $21,000 for one person, $31,000 for two people, plus $1,550 for each additional person in the household.

Ex parte California Medicaid renewal: the federal mandate

The ex parte default at 42 CFR 435.916 governs modern Medicaid renewal: before the county asks you for any information, it must try to renew your coverage from reliable information already in your account or otherwise available to it, including electronic data sources. Only if it cannot renew on that basis may it request information from you.

In California, the county checks the information it already has plus other government databases, typically Social Security and SSI records, IRS tax filings, and wage records available to CalSAWS. If the data confirm you remain within the income threshold for your category and that your household and other requirements have not changed, the renewal processes automatically, and you get a notice that coverage continues for another 12 months with no action required.

Ex parte fails most often when income is hard to verify from data alone (self-employment, gig work, cash income, or seasonal earnings that never reach wage databases), when the household changes, when income sits close to the cutoff, or, for non-MAGI cases, when the asset test cannot be confirmed from electronic sources alone. When ex parte fails, the county mails a renewal form with the information it already has. If your eligibility is based on modified adjusted gross income (MAGI), 42 CFR 435.916(a)(3) requires the county to give you at least 30 days from the date on that form to respond, provide any missing information, and sign. If you qualify through a non-MAGI pathway (age 65 or older, blindness or disability, long-term care, a Medicare Savings Program, or the medically needy), the state may apply that same procedure but federal law does not require it. California is more generous: its Keep Your Medi-Cal guidance gives up to 90 days from the letter date to return the form without a new application.

How to renew Medi-Cal: your four channels

No in-person interview can be required to renew. California takes the form online, by phone, by mail, or in person at a county office, and the fastest is BenefitsCal.

Channel How Notes
Online BenefitsCal.com Fastest, real-time confirmation, document upload, recommended
Phone Medi-Cal Member Helpline 1-800-541-5555, or your county office Telephonic help; keep your case number handy
Mail Return the signed renewal form to your county office Address is pre-printed on the packet; allow processing time
In person Any of California's 58 County Welfare Department offices Find your county office through BenefitsCal or the county listing

BenefitsCal is the statewide self-service portal on the CalSAWS back-end. From your account you can view your case, upload documents, complete your renewal, and update your address. If you made an account at application, use it; otherwise register with the case number from any notice or your Benefits Identification Card.

The 90-day California Medicaid renewal reconsideration window

If your coverage closed because you missed the renewal form, you may not have to start over.

Under 42 CFR 435.916, if you lose Medi-Cal for failure to return the renewal form or requested information, the county must reconsider your eligibility and treat the late-returned form as your renewal if you submit it within 90 days of the termination, without requiring a new application. That federal duty covers eligibility based on modified adjusted gross income (MAGI); for non-MAGI groups, a state may offer the same window but is not required to. California's guidance is not written narrower: DHCS tells members that returning the form or missing information within 90 days keeps coverage without a new application, and that after 90 days a new application is required. If you are in a non-MAGI group, confirm with your county that it applies to you.

The distinction that matters:

  • Procedural termination: you did not respond, did not provide requested documentation, or missed the signature. The 90-day reconsideration applies.
  • Eligibility-based termination: the county found you no longer meet income, residency, or another requirement. The reconsideration does not apply; file a new application or appeal.

Submit the form through any of the four channels above. If you no longer have it, get one through BenefitsCal or 1-800-541-5555, and note the closure date so the county routes the case correctly.

Your managed care plan at renewal

About 90% of Medi-Cal members get their care through a Medi-Cal managed care plan rather than fee-for-service. A successful renewal keeps you in the same plan. Your plan choice is made at initial enrollment through Health Care Options, the statewide enrollment broker; depending on your county, you may have to choose a plan within 30 days, and if you do not, Medi-Cal chooses one for you.,

You can change plans through Health Care Options at 1-800-430-4263 (TTY 1-800-430-7077)., Separately, if you are moved from fee-for-service into a managed care plan, DHCS continuity-of-care policy lets you keep your existing fee-for-service provider for 12 months when you have a current relationship with them, the plan has no quality-of-care concerns, they accept the plan's contracted or fee-for-service rates, and they are a California State Plan approved provider. To start it, call the new plan and name the provider.

Children's 12-month continuous eligibility

Section 5112 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 requires every state to give children under age 19 enrolled in Medicaid or the Children's Health Insurance Program 12 months of continuous eligibility from the date of enrollment, effective January 1, 2024. Coverage is locked in for those 12 months regardless of changes in family income: if a parent loses Medi-Cal mid-year because household income rose, the children stay covered until their next annual renewal.

A few events still end a child's coverage early: the child turns 19 or moves out of California.

Federal law also lets a state keep someone who was eligible while pregnant enrolled with full Medicaid benefits for 12 months after the pregnancy ends, rather than the historic 60 days; the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 made that extension a permanent state option.

Long-term care and waiver renewals

If you receive Medi-Cal long-term care (nursing facility or an HCBS waiver), your renewal has two independent parts, and both must stay current.

Financial redetermination

The county runs your income and asset review on the annual 12-month cycle, including the asset check federal law requires at renewal through the Asset Verification System. For institutional Medi-Cal, the key figures for 2026:

  • California does not disqualify a long-term-care applicant for having too much income; income above what the resident may keep becomes a long-term care patient liability, or share of cost, rather than a reason to deny coverage.,
  • A nursing-facility resident who will remain in long-term care for an entire calendar month keeps $35 a month for personal and incidental needs, fixed by state regulation; the remainder of their countable income goes toward the monthly share of cost. In home- and community-based waiver cases there is no $35 personal needs allowance.
  • If you are married and your spouse stays in the community, federal spousal-impoverishment protections apply. For 2026, DHCS publishes a single Community Spouse Resource Allowance of $162,660 and a single Minimum Monthly Maintenance Needs Allowance of $4,067 a month rather than a range, and California extends these protections to its HCBS waivers, not just institutional care.

Level-of-care reassessment

Separately, your continued need for a nursing-facility level of care is reassessed by your care or service coordinator (for waiver participants) or the facility (for institutional Medi-Cal). If the level-of-care review is not approved, your long-term care Medi-Cal ends, but you may continue on standard ABD Medi-Cal for non-long-term-care coverage if you otherwise qualify.

Medicare Savings Programs and dual eligibles

Medicare Savings Program eligibility for the Qualified Medicare Beneficiary (QMB), Specified Low-Income Medicare Beneficiary (SLMB), and Qualifying Individual (QI) tiers is redetermined on the same 12-month non-MAGI cycle, with the county attempting an ex parte renewal first. If you are dually eligible, your Medi-Cal renews each year through your county while your Medicare continues on its own rules; losing Medi-Cal mid-year keeps your Medicare but ends the QMB cost-sharing help that came with it. For free Medicare and Medicare Savings Program counseling, the Health Insurance Counseling and Advocacy Program (HICAP) helps Californians statewide at 1-800-434-0222.

Returned mail: what happens if Medi-Cal can't reach you

If your renewal packet is returned as undeliverable, that can lead to a termination. The federal rule that required the county to search for a new address before acting, 42 CFR 435.919, was removed effective July 31, 2026. Federal law now says only that the county may act without advance notice when your whereabouts are unknown, so no warning may reach you (42 CFR 431.213(d)), and that coverage must be reinstated if your whereabouts become known while you are still eligible (42 CFR 431.231(d)). California may still have its own procedures, so call your county office if your mail has come back. Either way, keep your address current before mail is ever returned:

  • Update your address through BenefitsCal as soon as you move
  • Call the Medi-Cal Member Helpline at 1-800-541-5555
  • Update your address with your managed care plan too, since its records are separate from the county's
  • File a USPS change-of-address form

Appeals and your State Hearing rights

If your renewal is denied or your coverage terminated, you have a federal right to a fair hearing (Section 1902(a)(3) of the Social Security Act and 42 CFR 431.220). Under 42 CFR 431.221(d), 90 days from the notice's mailing is the most a state may allow, not a minimum you are owed.

In California, Medi-Cal appeals are decided by the California Department of Social Services (CDSS) State Hearings Division through a State Hearing before an administrative law judge who works for CDSS, not for your county or your plan. California allows the full 90 days, and counts them from the day you receive the Notice of Action, not the day the county mailed it. Keep the envelope. A late request may still be accepted for good cause such as illness or disability. You can request one online through the Appeals Case Management System, by phone at 1-800-743-8525, by mail, or by fax; the State Hearings Division cannot accept a request by email.

If you are in a managed care plan, there is an added step. You must first exhaust the plan's internal appeal, which the plan decides in writing within 30 days, and then request a State Hearing within 120 days of that written decision. A fee-for-service member goes straight to the State Hearing.

Keeping coverage during the appeal. Federal law continues your Medi-Cal during the appeal as "Aid Paid Pending" only if you request the hearing before the action takes effect, generally within the 10-day advance-notice period. In California that means requesting the hearing by the effective date printed on the notice. If the county's action is later upheld, federal rules allow it to recoup the cost of services provided only because benefits continued.

Special populations and renewal nuances

Renewal matters more for some immigrants in 2026. As of January 1, 2026, some adults can no longer sign up for full-scope Medi-Cal because of their immigration status; DHCS heads this change the Enrollment Freeze. Adults who already have full-scope Medi-Cal keep it regardless of immigration status, but only so long as they renew on time and still meet Medi-Cal rules. Children ages 0 to 18, pregnant people, and people under age 26 who were in foster care on their 18th birthday remain eligible for full-scope Medi-Cal regardless of immigration status.

Reasonable opportunity period. When the county cannot promptly verify a declared citizenship or satisfactory immigration status, federal law (42 CFR 435.956) requires it to grant a reasonable opportunity period, ending at the earlier of verification or 90 days after the notice date, though the agency may extend it past 90 days for someone declaring satisfactory immigration status who is making a good-faith effort to obtain documents. During that period it may not delay, deny, reduce, or terminate benefits for someone it otherwise finds eligible. At renewal this is usually faster because status was already confirmed at application.

The ombudsman. The DHCS Medi-Cal Managed Care Ombudsman helps members resolve managed care access problems from a neutral standpoint at 1-888-452-8609; it does not update your eligibility, so renewal paperwork still goes through your county.

What changes after 2026: 6-month renewals

Section 71107 of the 2025 budget-reconciliation law (H.R.1, Public Law 119-21) requires states to redetermine eligibility once every 6 months, rather than every 12 months, for the ACA expansion-adult population, for renewals scheduled on or after January 1, 2027. Its only exemption covers an Indian or Urban Indian as defined in the Indian Health Care Improvement Act, a California Indian, and anyone otherwise determined eligible as an Indian for the Indian Health Service. California adopted ACA Medicaid expansion, so starting in 2027 millions of expansion adults will renew twice a year instead of once.

The same law separately excuses a longer list of people from its new community-engagement (work) requirement, including someone medically frail or the parent or caretaker relative of a child 13 and under. A work-requirement exemption is not a renewal exemption: those adults still renew every six months.

The same law also shortens retroactive eligibility for applications filed on or after January 1, 2027. The long-standing rule provides coverage for services in or after the third month before the application month; for applications filed on or after that date the window narrows to two months before the application month for most enrollees, and to one month for the ACA expansion adult group. Ex parte will renew more people automatically, but the renewal form remains the failsafe against a procedural loss.

Common Medi-Cal renewal mistakes

  1. Treating the packet like junk mail. Anything from your county, DHCS, or BenefitsCal is time-sensitive. Open it the day it arrives.
  2. Updating your address with Social Security or your plan but not your county. Update BenefitsCal, your county, and your plan.
  3. Ignoring a request for asset documentation on an ABD or long-term care renewal. A non-MAGI renewal cannot be finalized until the resource test is confirmed through the Asset Verification System, so an unanswered request stalls it.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is ex parte renewal, and how do I know if I qualify?

Ex parte renewal means the county uses data it already has, plus government databases, to confirm your eligibility without asking you for anything. If it succeeds, you get a notice that coverage continues for another 12 months and no action is required. You do not apply for it; the county attempts it automatically at every renewal.

What happens if I miss my Medi-Cal renewal deadline?

Your coverage closes. If the closure was procedural (you did not return the form or respond to a request for information), returning the renewal within 90 days gets your eligibility reviewed again without a new application. That is federally required for MAGI-based eligibility and a state option for non-MAGI groups. DHCS states the 90-day path for members generally., After 90 days, you must file a new application through BenefitsCal.

My child is on Medi-Cal. If my income goes up mid-year, does my child lose coverage?

No. Under federal continuous-eligibility rules effective January 1, 2024, children under 19 have 12 months of continuous eligibility from enrollment. Even if your income rises, your child keeps Medi-Cal until the next annual renewal. Exceptions: turning 19 or moving out of California.

I'm on ABD Medi-Cal. Why does my renewal need bank statements?

ABD and long-term care Medi-Cal have an asset test, and federal law (Section 1940 of the Social Security Act) requires the county to verify your resources at renewal through an Asset Verification System; the renewal cannot be finalized until that check clears. Since January 1, 2026, California's reinstated asset test sets the limit at $130,000 for one person and $195,000 for a couple. Those limits run through June 30, 2027; starting July 1, 2027 the limit drops to $21,000 for one person and $31,000 for two people.

Can I appeal if my renewal is denied?

Yes. You have up to 90 days from the day you receive the Notice of Action to request a State Hearing through the CDSS State Hearings Division. If you are in a managed care plan, you first exhaust the plan's internal appeal, then request the State Hearing within 120 days of the plan's written decision. Request the hearing before the action takes effect and your coverage continues as Aid Paid Pending while it is decided.

Contacts and resources

These offices can help with an annual renewal, a 90-day reconsideration, or an appeal.

BenefitsCal Renew online, upload documents, update your address, and check case status. BenefitsCal.com
Medi-Cal Member Helpline (DHCS) General Medi-Cal questions, renewal help, and case status. 1-800-541-5555
Health Care Options Choose, change, or leave a managed care plan. 1-800-430-4263
Medi-Cal Managed Care Ombudsman Neutral help resolving access problems with a managed care plan. 1-888-452-8609
CDSS State Hearings Division Request a Medi-Cal State Hearing (appeal). 1-800-743-8525
HICAP Free Medicare and Medicare Savings Program counseling. 1-800-434-0222

If you are unsure whether your renewal has been processed, log into BenefitsCal to check your case status or call the Member Helpline at 1-800-541-5555. To tell whether you remain eligible at renewal, see Brevy's guides to how to apply for Medi-Cal, Medi-Cal eligibility and income limits, the California Medi-Cal hub, and the national Medicaid guides.

Learn More

MedicaidCalifornia Medi-Cal: Complete GuideCalifornia families' 2026 guide to Medi-Cal: AB 116 asset limits, Medi-Medi Plans, HCBS waivers, CalAIM, IHSS, estate recovery, and how to apply. MedicaidHow to Apply for Medi-Cal in CaliforniaHow to apply for Medi-Cal in California in 2026: BenefitsCal online, county offices, paper forms, plan selection, yearly renewal, and appeal rights. MedicaidMedi-Cal Income and Asset LimitsMedi-Cal income and asset limits for 2026: MAGI, the SSI pathway, Share of Cost for long-term care, spousal rules, and the asset test that ends 6/30/2027. MedicaidCalifornia Medicaid Appeals and Fair HearingsHow to appeal a California Medi-Cal denial, reduction, or termination, keep your benefits during the appeal, and request a State Hearing with CDSS. MedicaidHow to Choose a Medi-Cal Managed Care PlanHow to choose or switch a Medi-Cal (California Medicaid) managed care plan: the five county models, the 2024 procurement, Kaiser, and how to switch. MedicaidHow to Get Medi-Cal to Pay for Long-Term CareHow Medi-Cal pays for long-term care in California in 2026: share of cost, the asset limit and its July 2027 step-down, transfers, and spousal protection.

Find personalized help renewing your California Medi-Cal coverage at brevy.com.

The information on Brevy.com is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional legal, financial, or medical advice. Rules vary by state and program and change frequently. Always verify with the relevant agency or a qualified professional. Brevy is not a law firm, financial advisor, or healthcare provider.

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