It’s very confusing when the estate recovery process begins with Medicaid, says nj.com’s recent article entitled “When will Medicaid recover funds from this estate?”
Under federal and state laws, the state Medicaid program is required to recover funds from the estates of Medicaid recipients who were 55 years of age or older when they received Medicaid benefits. This can be nursing facility services, home and community-based services, and related hospital and prescription drug services. States have the option to recover payments for all other Medicaid services provided to these individuals, except Medicare cost-sharing paid on behalf of Medicare Savings Program beneficiaries.
In some situations, Medicaid may also use the money left in a trust after a Medicaid enrollee has passed away to reimburse Medicaid. However, states can’t recover from the estate of a deceased Medicaid enrollee who’s survived by a spouse, child under age 21, or blind or disabled child of any age. States also must establish procedures for waiving estate recovery when recovery would cause an undue hardship.
States may also impose liens for Medicaid benefits incorrectly paid according to a court judgment.
States can impose liens on the real property during the lifetime of a Medicaid enrollee who’s permanently institutionalized, except when one of the following individuals resides in the home:
- a spouse
- a child under age 21
- a blind or disabled child of any age; or
- a sibling who has an equity interest in the home.
States must remove the lien when the Medicaid enrollee is discharged from the facility and returns home.
Note that any property that belonged to the deceased Medicaid recipient at their death is subject to estate recovery, even when the recipient owned that property jointly or individually.
Therefore, Medicaid postpones estate recovery if there is a surviving spouse or a surviving child under the age of 21 or is blind or permanently and totally disabled under the Social Security definition of disability.
Given that the father, in this case, passed away in February 2020 with a surviving spouse, Medicaid will postpone estate recovery until the mother dies.
Reference: nj.com (May 26, 2021) “When will Medicaid recover funds from this estate?”
