By skyforbes Hi, I got married in the past year and my spouse's income puts us right on the verge of qualifying to renew my Medi-Cal. I'm not completely sure whether we'll cross the threshold or not because my wife is self-employed and our income changes from month to month.
I read online that Medi-Cal uses MAGI to determine whether you qualify so I thought that if I contribute to the traditional IRA and add my student loan interest, that will be enough deductions to keep us on my healthcare plan. BUT, I talked to the caseworker today and she said that they go by gross income despite what it says online about MAGI. The way she described it made no sense. She said that once I submit our joint income, then she'll be able to determine which deductions we automatically qualifyfor, but she wasn't able to tell me what kind of deductions are possible in general or whether traditional IRA's or student loan interest are considered at all. Is anybody here familiar with how Medi-Cal calculates eligibility?
Also, does anyone know about how Covered California functions? If I apply for it next year when our income is going to be for sure too big, will they take into account traditional IRA's, business expenses or student loan interest when calculating eligibility? Without it, we'll be forced to pay $200-$300 a month for health insurance next year which is INSANE.