When a Parent Visiting or New From Abroad Needs Daily Care

Your mother came for a long visit and fell, or your father arrived on a new visa and cannot manage on his own. Before you decide where your parent should live, these three steps give you the facts you will need:

1. 1

   Get a medical evaluation here

   Book a visit with a doctor in California, or go to urgent care or the emergency room if it cannot wait. Ask the doctor what kind of help your parent needs day to day and whether it is safe for them to be alone. Call 911 in an emergency.

2. 2

   Read the insurance your parent has

   Find the travel or visitor medical policy, or any coverage from the home country, and read what it pays for, what it excludes and when it ends. Call the insurer and ask in writing.

3. 3

   Get legal advice before applying for anything

   Benefits, length of stay and immigration status are tied together. An immigration attorney or a nonprofit legal service can look at your parent's papers before you apply for a program or change a travel plan.

The choices are the same for a visitor as for a lifelong resident. What differs is who pays. The National Institute on Aging describes the main residential options this way:

• Help at home: family, plus paid caregivers for some hours of the day.
• Board and care homes: small private homes, usually 20 or fewer residents, with personal care, meals and staff around the clock. Nursing and medical care usually are not provided there.
• Assisted living: for people who need help with daily care but not as much as a nursing home gives, usually in their own apartment or room with shared areas.
• Nursing homes, also called skilled nursing facilities: more focus on medical care, with nursing care, 24-hour supervision and rehabilitation services.

In California, board and care homes and assisted living communities are both licensed as residential care facilities for the elderly (RCFEs). State law defines an RCFE as a housing arrangement chosen voluntarily by people 60 or older where care and supervision, protective supervision or personal care are provided based on each person's needs. The senior care levels guide lays out every level side by side, and assisted living compared with home care helps if your parent may stay with you.

Medicare is the federal health plan for people 65 and older and some younger people with disabilities. CMS says premium-free Part A depends on earnings records, the person's own or those of a spouse, parent or child. Someone who must buy Part A and Part B has to live in the US and be a US citizen or a lawful permanent resident who has lived here for 5 continuous years before applying. A parent on a visitor visa, or with a new green card, usually does not meet that yet.

Medi-Cal is California's Medicaid program. DHCS says a person must live in California and be income eligible or meet another qualifying rule. Since January 1, 2026, DHCS says adults 19 and older without satisfactory immigration status can no longer enroll in full Medi-Cal. Emergency Medi-Cal remains available to anyone who qualifies on income, regardless of immigration status.

Whether a recently arrived parent counts as living in California, and what applying could mean for their status, are questions for legal help. DHCS says neither it nor county offices can give advice about immigration status or public charge, and it points people to a qualified immigration lawyer. For more on each program, see paying for care when a parent is not a US citizen.

Visitor and travel medical policies are written for sudden illness or injury during a trip. Each policy is different, so read your parent's own policy and ask the insurer these questions in writing:

• Does it cover conditions your parent had before the trip?
• Does it pay anything toward a care home, home care or a nursing facility, or only for doctors and hospitals?
• What is the maximum benefit, and what is the deductible?
• When does coverage end, and can it be extended while your parent is here?
• Does it cover a medical flight home if that becomes the plan?

If your parent ends up in an emergency room, CMS explains that the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act requires hospitals that take Medicare and offer emergency services to give a medical screening exam and stabilizing treatment regardless of ability to pay. The bill still comes afterward, so ask the hospital's billing office what help it offers.

California's regulations require every RCFE to get a medical assessment before accepting a resident. Title 22, section 87458, says it must be signed by a licensed medical professional, made within the last year and kept in the resident's record. It covers a physical exam with diagnoses, an exam for communicable tuberculosis and other infectious or contagious diseases, current medications, physical limitations and diet limits, whether the person is ambulatory, nonambulatory or bedridden, and any cognitive conditions.

Medical records from abroad can help the doctor here, so bring them, translated if you can. Ask each home whether it will accept an assessment signed by a doctor outside the US. If not, plan a visit with a doctor in California first. The full checklist is in move-in requirements for California assisted living.

Expect the home to ask who will pay each month, who to call in an emergency and who can make decisions if your parent cannot. If your parent speaks little English, ask how staff will talk with them day to day.

For Medicare questions, HICAP gives one-on-one counseling through the California Department of Aging. For Medi-Cal, start with the county social services office. DHCS lists the Health Consumer Alliance for legal help with health coverage, and says the Department of Social Services keeps a list of qualified nonprofit organizations that help immigrants. DHCS also notes that your parent's embassy or consulate may be able to help.

Hamssa Benrekia is a placement specialist in Torrance who helps families in the South Bay and Harbor area find licensed board and care homes and assisted living communities. She speaks English, Arabic and Spanish and can talk with your parent in their own language on tours. She does not give immigration, insurance or benefits advice, but she can talk through which homes may fit a private budget. To start, contact Hamssa. More topics are in the California Assisted Living Placement Guide.