Pioneering new approaches to economic security for older adults in California.  

The California Elder Index™ (CEI) is a tool that measures the actual cost that older adults pay for basic necessities (food, medical care, housing, transportation) in each of California's 58 counties.

Housed at the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research (CHPR), the CEI fills a vital role for policymakers, advocates, and researchers by illuminating key data that the federal poverty level (FPL) guidelines exclude. The FPL guidelines, which are based on the costs of food alone, are often used by the federal government to determine income eligibility for government assistance programs, including programs such as Medicaid (known as Medi-Cal in California) and SNAP (CalFresh), but fall short of the actual income older adults need to live independently with dignity. 

Building on the national Elder Economic Security Standard Index™ (Elder Index), the CEI provides county-specific cost information that considers variations in housing costs by housing type (renter or homeowner with or without a mortgage) and by household composition (i.e., single older adult living alone, older couple, or older adults housing adult children and/or grandchildren). Data are available for all 58 counties in the state and can be sorted by sex, age groups, race and ethnicity, household type, and family type.

Since its launch in 2008, the California Elder Index has been used by public agencies and local governments, researchers, advocates, and foundations to inform their work supporting older adults throughout California.