California has some financial advice for Julia Feinberg: have you considered having less money?

Not earning less. Not needing less. Just making about $10,000 of her emergency savings stop being there.

As CalMatters reports, a Medi-Cal asset limit taking effect in July 2027 will leave Feinberg, an Oakland therapist with a neuromuscular disorder, needing to spend about that amount to get below the cap. Her coverage pays for roughly 19 hours of care a day. This is the sort of situation in which an emergency fund might seem sensible, until the state explains that the fund is the emergency.

The new limit for low-income seniors and people with disabilities will be $21,000 in countable assets, down from $130,000. A primary home and one vehicle are exempt. Certain accounts, policies and even burial plots count. California is willing to examine whether you have prepared too comfortably for death before deciding how to help you stay alive.

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Another woman interviewed by CalMatters, Elizabette Guéçamburu, is saving for a used wheelchair-accessible van costing about $75,000. Notice the delicate distinction: one van is allowed; the money on its way to becoming a van is a problem.

The responsible approach is presumably to acquire it all at once. Perhaps the van could arrive already owned. That would save everyone the embarrassment of watching a disabled person accumulate enough money to buy it.

Guéçamburu may put inherited money into a special needs trust controlled by a relative, giving up control she would otherwise have. There is a route through the rules. It just helps if your financial independence has a chaperone.

The state eliminated asset limits in 2024, reinstated them this year and is lowering them again next July. Newsom had celebrated protecting life savings. Faced with a $12 billion budget shortfall and enrollment above expectations, he later proposed an even lower cap; lawmakers settled on this one.

Sacramento understands the importance of putting your finances in order. It has balanced its budget. Now it needs Feinberg to unbalance hers.