For families
Helping a parent or yourself
Applying asks Beta to be your Care Coordination Agency.
Update
2026 rates are in effect. A resident on SSI/SSP pays a home at most $706.07 a month for room and board, plus up to $738.00 for care and supervision. All program updates
Beta ALW Care Coordination
California's Assisted Living Waiver (ALW): help paying for assisted living
ALW is the Assisted Living Waiver, a Medi-Cal program that pays for your care in an assisted-living home in fifteen California counties, for adults 21 and older with full-scope Medi-Cal and no share of cost. You pay for room and board; Medi-Cal pays for your care, and Beta ALW coordinates it.
Quick answer: Yes, through ALW. Medi-Cal pays the home for your care, and you pay for your room and meals. There is a state waitlist; DHCS reports average waits of 11 to 12 months for people leaving a nursing facility. How ALW works
Start here: who are you helping?
For professionals
Referring a patient or client
ALW cannot meet a discharge date. Plan a second track alongside the referral.
Check whether you pre-qualify for ALW
All six have to be true. “Not sure” is a fine answer. A coordinator can help you check.
Question 1 of 6
Your result
0 of 6 answered
Answer all six to see a result. You do not need every answer to apply.
DHCS decides eligibility.
This check is educational. It is not an eligibility decision. The nurse assessment and the state's Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) decide, and Beta cannot promise that anyone will be found eligible or enrolled. Nothing you choose here is saved or sent. Close the page and it is gone.
Estimate your monthly cost
Source: CDSS PIN 25-19-CCLD · 2026 ↗ALW pays the home separately for waiver care. If you get SSI/SSP, what you pay the home for basic services is capped by the state.
SSI/SSP in a licensed home, 2026: $1,626.07
Federal SSI $994.00 plus the state SSP $632.07 a month.
| Room and board (maximum) | $706.07 |
|---|---|
| Care and supervision (up to) | $738.00 |
| More by written agreement, with other income | $0.00 |
| Most the home can charge for basic services | $1,444.07 |
| You keep at least, each month | $182.00 |
An estimate from the 2026 limits. ALW pays the home separately, by care level, for the waiver care services. A home may also charge for a private room or special food services, by agreement. Your coordinator confirms the real numbers with the home.
Counties where ALW operates
State list checked September 18, 2026 ↗Beta coordinates care in all fifteen. You only need to be willing to live in one of them. A listing is never an open bed. Each home confirms its own room.
Los Angeles426 homes on the state list
Los Angeles county guide: local Medi-Cal office and referrersThe state waitlist
Source: DHCS · March 2026 ↗In March 2026, more people were waiting than were enrolled. DHCS releases openings in priority order, when the state releases capacity. In August 2026 DHCS reported average waits of 11 to 12 months for people leaving a nursing facility and 3 to 4 months for APS or Ombudsman referrals. No one can promise a date.
Open the waitlist tracker- Waitlist request
- Beta sends it to DHCS after you review it together. Being on the list is not enrollment.
- Priority group
- DHCS releases openings in priority order. Your group affects order, not a date.
- Opening (the state calls it a waiver slot)
- Released when the state releases capacity. Then a nurse assessment, then DHCS decides eligibility.
What happens after you apply
Who decides what
| Decision | Who makes it |
|---|---|
| Whether you are eligible for ALW | DHCS, after the nurse assessment |
| When an opening is released | DHCS, in priority order |
| Whether a home admits you, and has room | Each home |
| Your care plan | Your care coordinator writes it with you |
| Which agency and home you use | You: any Care Coordination Agency DHCS lists for your county, and any participating home |
Common questions
Six things all have to be true: age 21 or older, full-scope Medi-Cal with no monthly share of cost, the level of care a nursing home gives, safe in an assisted-living home, willing to live in a county where ALW operates, and preferring assisted living to a nursing home. Read the full guide
You send a request through a Care Coordination Agency. DHCS releases openings in priority order when the state releases capacity. DHCS reports average waits of 11 to 12 months for people leaving a nursing facility and 3 to 4 months for APS or Ombudsman referrals. Being on the list is not enrollment. Read the full guide
Medi-Cal pays the home for waiver care. In 2026 a resident on SSI/SSP pays a home at most $706.07 for room and board plus up to $738.00 for care and supervision, and keeps at least $182.00. With income besides SSI/SSP, the home may charge $20 more if the admission agreement says so. Read the full guide
Homes on the state list operate in all fifteen ALW counties. A listing is never an open bed. Each home confirms its own room and decides its own admissions. Read the full guide
ALW is one option. Depending on needs and where the person wants to live, another may fit better. Compare ALW with IHSS, PACE, CalAIM, a nursing home, the HCBA waiver, what Medicare does and does not pay or paying privately.
The 2026 ALW rates by tier and a calculator showing what Medi-Cal pays a home, the income and asset limits, the waitlist by month, and the state list of Care Coordination Agencies.
Moving from a nursing home to assisted living takes an opening, a nurse assessment, a DHCS decision and a home that admits you. Beta coordinates the steps. Read the full guide
Contact the ALW team
Request a callback
Tell us a good time. A coordinator calls you back within 24 hours, Monday to Friday.
Request a callbackSend a question
Write it down. We reply by email.
If someone is unsafe right now, call 911 or Adult Protective Services in your county.
For professionals and partners
ALW cannot meet a discharge date. Plan a second track alongside any referral.