Estimating investment income for Medi-Cal is literally impossible?

I quit my job in California last year and I'm currently on COBRA, but I'm looking to buy individual insurance for 2024; my COBRA premiums are like 10k a year for a mediocre HDHP, which is beyond absurd. I actually don't want health insurance at all because in most cases I'd rather die than go to the hospital, but a guy at the bar told me you get fined for not having health insurance in California. I guess unless I find a job soon (unlikely), my next year will be financed by selling off my portfolio of meme stocks since I don't have that much in savings.

Estimating investment income is of course obviously completely impossible because (a) I can't predict the stock market. I might have capital gains, I might not. My dividend income might be a lot, might be a little. Even if I could predict the stock market, it would still be above my math level to calculate the dividends over the course of the year based on that. And then (b) I can't predict my own expenses and therefore how much selling I'll have to do. Maybe I'll want to move to a cheaper apartment when my lease expires. Maybe I'll want to reinvest my assets. If I'm unlucky I could even end up in the ER with a big medical bill, imagine that.

So my questions are:

Given these factors, what am I supposed to put for my investment income? Should it just be my best back-of-the-napkin guess (🚀📈💰)? What happens if my actual income ends up being a lot higher than I put down, lifting me out of my abject poverty? (Possibly disqualifying me from health insurance?) What happens if the number ends up being a lot lower than I put down, and I have basically $0 of income?

Thanks

submitted by /u/HospitalExpress7834
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