Senior benefits checkup

The benefits and bill fixes North County seniors most often miss, in one list. Each links to a page with the official numbers, or straight to the official program. Pick your fix: check what fits and those jump to the top. Every option stays on the list.

• Get paid to care for a parent (IHSS) · the County can pay a caregiver, including family, for help at home
  For parents 65+ on Medi-Cal who can't live at home safely without help.
• Every senior waitlist in San Diego · assisted living and home care waivers, MSSP, meals, housing
  How long each line is, who gets in first, and the help you can start now.
• The care ladder: cheaper than a nursing home · nursing homes average $14,440 a month; see every rung below that
  Meals, respite, IHSS, adult day care, PACE, VA Aid and Attendance: who qualifies and who to call.
• Medicare Extra Help · about $5,700 a year (Social Security)
  Drug costs capped at $12.65 a drug; the Medi-Cal route if savings are over the limit.
• Medicare Open Enrollment, Oct 15 to Dec 7 · free, unbiased plan counseling from HICAP
  What to check before you keep or switch plans.
• Medicare scams this fall · Medicare never calls to sell you a plan
  The red flags, the scams officials name this year, and who to call in San Diego.
• CalFresh food benefits for 60+ · easier rules at 60+, and hot meals with the EBT card
  The medical-cost deduction most people skip, and how to apply.
• Unclaimed money in your name · California holds more than $15 billion in forgotten accounts and checks
  Search every name in the household (and late parents) free, and skip the 10% finders.
• Help paying the heating bill (LIHEAP) · one-time bill help; crisis help up to $1,500 on a shutoff notice
  Plus free weatherization to keep the warmth in.
• SDG&E CARE or FERA · up to 35% off the electric bill
  And answer the recertification letter: thousands lose CARE by missing it.
• The cheaper Clean Energy Alliance plan · about $13.74 a month at average use
  A few-minute switch most households never make.
• Warm the room you're in, not the whole house · a mini-split heats one room on about half a space heater's electricity
  What it is in plain words, what it costs to run, and what to check before buying. Renting? It's the landlord's wall, so ask first.
• SDG&E Medical Baseline · a bill discount plus extra shutoff warnings
  A form the doctor signs.
• The $7,000 homeowners' exemption · about $70 a year; file by Dec 10 for 80% this year
  Check the upper-right corner of the tax bill.
• Disabled veterans' property tax exemption · $180,671 off the home's assessed value (2026)
  DD-214, the VA rating letter, a 15-minute form.
• Property Tax Postponement (62+) · defer this year's tax; a lien at 5%, not a discount
  Filing Oct 1 to Feb 10, first-come; ask the State Controller if it's right for you.
• Fall deadlines in one list · Medicare, flu shots, Election Day, property tax, Covered CA
  Countdowns for each.
• Free flu shots · County Public Health Centers, no cost
  Including the North Coastal center in Oceanside.
• California LifeLine phone discount · up to $28.25 a month off a home or cell phone
  Since 2026, two sign-ups and two renewals; miss one and you lose part of it.
• AT&T copper landline changes · medical alerts and alarms on old lines need a plan
  What's changing and what to move first.
• Lower the SDG&E bill · timers, the winter change, every option
  Narrowed to your home.
• REAL ID or passport · what TSA accepts and the $45 ConfirmID
  Check before the holidays.
• Moving here from somewhere cold · Medicare when you move, the DMV, checking movers
  And a guy on the ground once you land.
• Earthquake alerts on the phone · MyShake, the Oct 15 ShakeOut
  Set it up on a parent's phone.

It's not a full-time job, it's a SideGuy job: a few hours a month of errands, rides and the stuff that makes life easier, plus the paperwork. PJ's own mom is the first client.

The checkup is one sitting at the kitchen table, with you or with your parent. PJ brings this checklist, finds what applies, and does the forms, logins and appointments: Extra Help and BenefitsCal applications, the SDG&E discounts, the tax-bill exemption, the unclaimed money search. He doesn't sell insurance or give plan, tax, legal or VA-claim advice; he books the free official counselors for that (HICAP for Medicare plans, VITA for taxes, the County Veterans Service Office).

Make my fix plan Text PJ Plans start as low as $25.

More: help for seniors in Solana Beach and North County · the next 90 days.

Need a human?

This page is built every morning from public data by SideGuy, run by PJ, a local in Solana Beach. If something looks off, or you want a hand with your plans, text PJ at 858-461-8054. A real person answers.

Local help, free to read: make your fix plan · senior benefits checkup · lower your SDG&E bill · Medicare Extra Help · the next 90 days. Plans start as low as $25.