Share of Cost Questions to Ask the County

Why a written question list helps

Share of cost is where adult children get blindsided. The social worker authorized hours. The provider enrolled. The first warrant is smaller than expected. CDSS already said why, on the share of cost fact sheet: unpaid share of cost can be deducted, and the recipient pays the provider that amount. The fix is to ask before the first timesheet, not after.

What share of cost is and how it affects the check are the explainers. This page is only the conversation. Bring a notebook. Ask the parent to sit with you if they can. Have the Medi-Cal case number and the IHSS case number if you have them.

Questions for county Medi-Cal staff

1. Does this person have a Medi-Cal share of cost.
2. What is the current monthly amount. Please point to the notice that shows it.
3. What household facts would change that amount.
4. If income is reported late, when would a new amount start. (Ask them. Do not invent a lag.)
5. Does a renewal usually review share of cost again.
6. If medical bills were paid this month, do they count toward meeting the share of cost on this file, and how would we show that.
7. How can an adult child be listed so you may discuss this budget with me.

Do not ask Medi-Cal to set IHSS hours. Do not ask them to confirm the county IHSS wage. Those are other desks. Do not offer them a spend-down spreadsheet you built from a blog. Let them apply Medi-Cal rules to this case.

Questions for county IHSS staff

1. If the share of cost Medi-Cal just confirmed is unpaid, will it be deducted from the provider warrant.
2. How will that deduction look on the stub or the payment statement.
3. Who is responsible for paying the provider the deducted part (confirm: the recipient).
4. If the share of cost is met another way in a given month, what should the warrant look like.
5. If the amount changes after a Medi-Cal renewal, do we need to call you, or do you see it automatically.
6. How can an adult child be listed on the IHSS file so you may discuss the warrant.

Do not ask the social worker to raise hours to offset a share of cost. Hours come from the assessment. Share of cost comes from Medi-Cal. Bargaining one against the other confuses both files.

Questions to settle at home after the calls

• How will the recipient pay the provider if a deduction appears.
• Who will watch BenefitsCal and Medi-Cal mail for a changed amount.
• Where the written answers will live, next to the Notice of Action.
• Whether a second helper in the family needs the same numbers so no one is surprised.

If Medi-Cal is still pending, you can still ask whether the case is likely to include a share of cost. Treat any number you hear as provisional until the determination is done. Applying for IHSS while Medi-Cal is pending does not freeze the budget question. It only starts the IHSS packet.

If you will be the paid provider, treat the leftover recipient-to-provider amount as part of the job conversation, not as a favor you absorb in silence. Write the plan down. If a sibling will handle the parent’s bank account, make sure that sibling heard the same Medi-Cal amount you did.

If answers conflict

Read both answers back. Ask each worker for the notice or screen they are looking at. Ask them to talk to each other if the warrant and the Medi-Cal budget do not match. You are allowed to be calm and persistent. You are not required to invent a third number.

Official pages to have open on the call

Keep the CDSS fact sheet, DHCS Medi-Cal, and the county office list nearby. If you want help rehearsing the questions, you can ask for help.