Justice in Aging, an organization that seeks to reduce poverty among seniors, released a new report about Medicaid estate recovery. Medicaid estate recovery refers to the federal government requiring states to attempt to recoup the costs of Medicaid benefits paid to individuals when they die. For many seniors this involves Medicaid-covered nursing home benefits.
The report points out that Medicaid is the only federally funded health care program that attempts to recover the funds paid to individuals. The burden of paying back Medicaid benefits disproportionately hurts poor families and can often result in a forced sale of a Medicaid beneficiary’s home.
Theoretically, Medicaid estate recovery is meant to put money back in the Medicaid program, but the report finds that states recover less than one percent of the money spent on Medicaid. As a result, individual families can be left impoverished while states receive little benefit.
The report advocates Congress to preferably eliminate Medicaid estate recovery, or alternatively, to implement hardship criteria that would lessen the burden on individuals.
The text of the full report can be found at the following link: Congress Should End Mandatory Estate Recovery
For assistance with estate planning, wills and trusts, special needs planning, and related areas, please call Mitchell, Brown and Associates at (314) 962-0186.
