The old flat MICRA cap is stale for 2026 prep

For 2026 prep, stop answering from the old flat $250,000 MICRA cap and switch to the AB 35 schedule framing.

What changed

AB 35 replaced the old flat $250,000 MICRA noneconomic-damages cap with a rising schedule. If your prep still treats the old flat number as the current California answer, that prep is stale.

Why it matters for exam prep

MICRA is one of the easiest stale-headline traps because the old number was memorized so widely.
Current California prep should frame MICRA as an updated schedule, not a frozen historical figure.

What to purge from old summaries

"MICRA is still a flat $250,000."

Primary source

A56 AB 35 / MICRA noneconomic-damages schedule. https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB35