CalAIM Community Supports: An Alternative Worth Asking About
CalAIM is a newer, less well-known option worth asking your Medi-Cal plan about — especially if you’re waiting on a program like the Assisted Living Waiver.
What CalAIM Community Supports is
CalAIM (California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal) allows Medi-Cal managed care plans to optionally offer “Community Supports” — a set of non-medical services that a plan can provide as a substitute for a costlier service, at the plan’s discretion. Depending on the plan, these can include things like short-term post-hospitalization housing transition support, and in some cases assisted-living-type support.
Ask your plan — don’t assume
Whether any given Community Supports service is offered, and to whom, varies by managed care plan and is not guaranteed. The honest, correct framing is: ask your Medi-Cal managed care plan directly whether they offer Community Supports services relevant to your situation — especially if you’re on a waitlist for another program, like the Assisted Living Waiver. We can’t tell you what’s definitely available in Sacramento County, because it depends on which plan you’re enrolled in.
Other options to ask about in parallel
This is general information, not financial or legal advice. Community Supports offerings vary by plan and change over time — confirm current availability with your Medi-Cal managed care plan directly.