FAFSA confusion: Can I select Medicare if I have Medi-Cal coverage in California?

The FAFSA form is asking about federal benefit programs, not state-specific ones like Medi-Cal. Medicare and Medi-Cal are completely different programs. Medicare is primarily for people 65+ or with certain disabilities, while Medi-Cal is California's implementation of Medicaid for low-income residents. Do NOT select Medicare if you have Medi-Cal. Instead, you should be looking for an option called Medicaid on the form - that's what Medi-Cal technically is (California's version of Medicaid). If you don't see a Medicaid option either, double-check you're looking at the right section or contact the financial aid office at your school.

i had the exact same problem last semester!! the FAFSA is so confusing lol. medi-cal is actually medicaid, just california's version of it. so look for medicaid on the form, not medicare. completely different things!!!

Did any of you notice if selecting Medicaid (Medi-Cal) actually impacts your SAI score calculation? I'm just curious if it makes a significant difference in the final aid amount or if it's primarily for statistical purposes. My family has been on Medi-Cal for years but I never knew how it factored into my FAFSA calculation.

I HATE how confusing they make these forms!!! My kids are on Medi-Cal too and I spent like 2 hours trying to figure out which box to check. Why can't they just list all the state programs too instead of making us guess?? The whole system is designed to make low income families struggle I swear

Just to clarify the confusion: on the 2025-2026 FAFSA form, you'll find the question about federal benefits in the financial information section. Look specifically for "Medicaid or Supplemental Security Income (SSI)" as an option - that's where you would indicate your Medi-Cal coverage. The form uses federal program names, and Medi-Cal is California's implementation of the federal Medicaid program. Correctly indicating this can potentially qualify you for simplified needs analysis, which might improve your aid package.

I had this same issue last month and spent hours trying to get through to someone at Federal Student Aid for clarification. After 3 days of calling and getting disconnected, I finally discovered Claimyr (claimyr.com) - they connected me to an FSA agent in about 20 minutes who confirmed that yes, Medi-Cal should be reported as Medicaid on the FAFSA. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ. Saved me so much frustration compared to trying to call directly!

just want to add that i made this mistake last year - i didnt check medicaid even tho my family had medi-cal, and i had to correct my fafsa later. it changed my SAI score by like $3000 which meant i got a bigger pell grant! definitely make sure u mark it correctly.

One additional tip: Make sure you answer all the questions about federal benefit programs accurately. Besides Medicaid (Medi-Cal), pay attention to questions about SNAP (food stamps), Free/Reduced Price Lunch, TANF, WIC, and SSI. Each of these can affect your Student Aid Index calculation. The FAFSA uses these benefits as indicators of financial need, which can qualify you for more favorable treatment in the aid calculation process.

This thread has been so helpful! I'm a California community college student and ran into the exact same confusion when filling out my FAFSA. The terminology is really confusing because we're so used to hearing "Medi-Cal" that it doesn't immediately click that it's the same as Medicaid. For anyone else reading this - definitely take the time to review all the federal benefit questions carefully. I almost missed indicating our CalFresh benefits too because I was just thinking of it as "food stamps" and not SNAP. It's worth double-checking everything because as @Diego Rojas mentioned, it can make a real difference in your aid package!

As someone who works in financial aid, I want to emphasize how important it is to get this right! The distinction between Medicare and Medicaid trips up so many students. To make it crystal clear: Medicare = federal health insurance primarily for seniors 65+ and people with disabilities. Medicaid = federal program for low-income individuals/families that each state implements (California calls theirs Medi-Cal). When you see "Medicaid" on the FAFSA, that's exactly what your Medi-Cal coverage is. And yes, indicating these means-tested benefits correctly can significantly impact your aid eligibility through the simplified needs test or automatic zero EFC provisions. Don't skip this question - it could mean thousands more in aid!

I'm so glad I found this thread! I'm a first-generation college student in California and was completely lost on this question. My family has been on Medi-Cal for as long as I can remember, but I had never heard the term "Medicaid" before filling out the FAFSA. I actually called my mom to ask if we had Medicare because I didn't see Medi-Cal listed anywhere on the form! She was just as confused as I was. Reading everyone's explanations about how Medi-Cal is just California's version of the federal Medicaid program makes so much sense now. I went back and corrected my FAFSA to indicate Medicaid, and I'm really hoping it helps with my aid package. Thank you all for sharing your experiences - it's so reassuring to know other students have dealt with this same confusion!

I'm a parent helping my daughter with her FAFSA and we ran into this exact same issue! We've been on Medi-Cal for about 3 years now and I was so confused when I couldn't find it listed on the form. I actually spent way too much time googling "is Medi-Cal the same as Medicare" before finding this thread. It's really frustrating that the federal forms don't make it clearer that state programs like Medi-Cal are just local versions of federal programs like Medicaid. Reading through everyone's responses has been so educational - I had no idea that indicating these benefits could actually improve our aid eligibility! We corrected the FAFSA last night and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it makes a difference. Thank you to everyone who shared their knowledge, especially @Madison King for the professional insight. It's such a relief to know we're not the only family who was confused by this!

As someone who just went through this same confusion a few months ago, I can totally relate! I'm also in California and was completely stumped by this question on my FAFSA. Like many of you, I grew up hearing "Medi-Cal" and had no idea it was the same thing as Medicaid until I did some research. What really helped me was calling my school's financial aid office directly - they walked me through it and confirmed that yes, Medi-Cal should be reported as Medicaid on the FAFSA. They also mentioned that many California students make this same mistake because the state uses different terminology. I'm so glad threads like this exist to help clear up the confusion! For anyone still unsure, don't hesitate to reach out to your school's financial aid office - they deal with this question all the time and are super helpful.

Wow, this entire thread has been incredibly helpful! As someone who just moved to California and is dealing with the FAFSA for the first time while on Medi-Cal, I was completely lost. I actually came really close to selecting Medicare because I thought maybe it was just a generic term for any government health insurance - thank goodness I decided to search online first! It's honestly pretty ridiculous that the federal forms don't make this clearer. They could easily add something like "Medicaid (known as Medi-Cal in California)" to avoid all this confusion. Reading about how correctly indicating these benefits can impact your Student Aid Index and potentially qualify you for the simplified needs test is eye-opening. I had no idea these weren't just demographic questions! Thank you to everyone who shared their experiences, especially @Madison King for the professional perspective and @Dmitri Volkov and @Amara Nwosu for showing that newcomers like me aren't alone in this confusion. I'm heading straight to my FAFSA now to make sure everything is filled out correctly!

This thread is exactly what I needed! I'm a nursing student in California and just ran into this exact confusion yesterday while updating my FAFSA. My family has been on Medi-Cal since I was little, but I had never connected it to Medicaid until reading all these responses. It's honestly mind-blowing that such a simple terminology difference can cause so much stress for students. What really caught my attention was learning about how indicating these benefits correctly can actually improve your aid through the simplified needs test - I wish someone had explained this to me when I first started filling out FAFSAs years ago! I probably missed out on additional aid in previous years because I didn't understand the importance of these questions. Thank you to everyone who shared their experiences and especially to the financial aid professional for breaking down exactly why this matters. I'm going to make sure all my friends know about this too because I bet a lot of California students are making the same mistake!

This has been such an educational thread! I'm a transfer student from out of state who just moved to California and got on Medi-Cal a few months ago. When I started my FAFSA, I was completely baffled by this question because I'd never dealt with Medi-Cal before and had no idea it was related to Medicaid. I actually called the FAFSA helpline and was on hold for over an hour before I found this discussion! Reading through everyone's experiences has saved me so much time and stress. It's really frustrating that the federal forms don't acknowledge that different states use different names for the same programs - a simple note like "Medicaid (called Medi-Cal in CA, MassHealth in MA, etc.)" would prevent so much confusion. The information about how this can impact your Student Aid Index through the simplified needs test is incredibly valuable - I wish this was explained more clearly in the FAFSA instructions. Thanks to everyone who shared their knowledge, especially the financial aid professional who broke down exactly why these questions matter for aid eligibility!

As a newcomer to this community, I can't tell you how relieved I am to have found this discussion! I'm a California resident filling out my FAFSA for the first time and was completely stumped by this exact question. My family has been on Medi-Cal for several years, but I had absolutely no idea it was the same thing as Medicaid until reading through all of these responses. I was literally staring at the form for 20 minutes trying to figure out what to check, and I was seriously considering just leaving it blank because I didn't want to make a mistake. Reading everyone's experiences - from the students who made the same error to the financial aid professional who explained the simplified needs test - has been incredibly educational. I had no clue that these benefit questions could actually impact my aid eligibility so significantly! The fact that correctly indicating Medicaid could potentially qualify me for better aid treatment is huge for my family's situation. Thank you to everyone who took the time to share their knowledge and experiences. I'm going to go back to my FAFSA right now and make sure I check the Medicaid box. This community is amazing!

As another newcomer to this community, I just want to say how incredibly helpful this entire discussion has been! I'm a California community college student who was literally about to submit my FAFSA with the Medicare box checked because I couldn't find Medi-Cal anywhere on the form. Thank goodness I decided to search for help online first! Reading through everyone's experiences has been such an eye-opener - especially learning that Medi-Cal is just California's version of the federal Medicaid program. The terminology confusion is so real! What really shocked me was discovering that correctly indicating these benefits can actually improve your aid eligibility through things like the simplified needs test. I had absolutely no idea these weren't just basic demographic questions. Thank you especially to @Madison King for the professional insight and to all the students who shared their stories - it's so comforting to know I'm not alone in this confusion. I'm heading back to my FAFSA right now to make sure I check Medicaid instead of Medicare. This community is a lifesaver for first-time FAFSA filers like me!

As a newcomer to this community, I'm incredibly grateful to have stumbled upon this discussion! I'm a first-generation college student in California and was completely overwhelmed when I hit this exact question on my FAFSA. My family has been on Medi-Cal for years, but I had never heard the term "Medicaid" before and was genuinely confused about whether we had any federal benefits at all. I was actually about to call my older sister to ask if she knew what to check, but finding this thread has answered all my questions and then some! Learning that Medi-Cal is simply California's name for the federal Medicaid program makes so much sense now. What's really blown my mind is discovering that correctly indicating these benefits isn't just a formality - it can actually impact your Student Aid Index and potentially qualify you for better aid through the simplified needs test. As a low-income student, every dollar of aid matters tremendously for my family, so knowing that I almost missed this opportunity by not understanding the terminology is both scary and motivating. Thank you to everyone who shared their experiences and especially to the financial aid professional who explained why these questions are so important. This community is amazing for helping students like me navigate this complex process!