Nichole Y. Shafer
Guest Columnist
Some individuals think that if they or their loved ones are approved to receive Medicaid benefits that any of the assets that they have are theirs to do “whatever they want” when they pass away. In some ways this is true, but in other ways when Medicaid approved you to receive benefits, it could be “too good to be true.”
What do I mean that receiving Medicaid benefits could be “too good to be true”? Well, if a person is on Medicaid, then the state can try to recover against the Medicaid recipient’s estate to recover the losses the state had for paying for the Medicaid benefits that were paid on the Medicaid recipient’s behalf. This is known as Medicaid estate recovery.
Medicaid estate recovery is a federal law that requires state governments to do what they can in order to recoup the cost of Medicaid services from the estates of deceased Medicaid recipients. This includes Medicaid services such as nursing home care, home and community-based services and related hospital and prescription costs.
Medicaid estate recovery is not limited to how long an individual received Medicaid benefits. In fact, Medicaid estate recovery applies to the estates of individuals who received Medicaid benefits, regardless of how long they received Medicaid benefits.
An “estate,” for the purposes of Medicaid recovery, is defined as being all the real and personal property owned by the Medicaid recipient at the time of death. This is not limited to just assets going through the Medicaid recipient’s probate estate. It also includes non-probate assets as well.
Since Medicaid estate recovery applies regardless if there is a probate estate, some might ask how the process works. The estate executor is responsible for notifying the Ohio Attorney General of a Medicaid recipient’s death if the Medicaid individual was over the age of 55 or if was permanently institutionalized. Typically, this notification is done by the attorney handling the estate administration.
After being notified of the death of a Medicaid recipient, Medicaid will attempt to recoup the cost of care from the Medicaid recipient’s assets at the time of the Medicaid recipient’s death. This includes but is not limited to recovery against their home, cash, savings accounts, stocks, bonds and more.
Medicaid will respond to the request sent to the Ohio Attorney General by the executor through the attorney handling the estate if there will be any Medicaid estate recovery. If there is Medicaid estate recovery, Medicaid will have a local attorney work with the executor and estate attorney to provide the necessary information about how to make payment to satisfy the debt. The Medicaid attorney may also place a lien on the property if real estate is involved, in order to try to recover against the estate.
Therefore, just being approved for Medicaid does not mean that assets in the Medicaid recipient’s name are protected from the nursing home,. In some ways, the Medicaid approval letter could be seen as being “too good to be true.”
Nichole Y. Shafer is an Ohio-licensed attorney at Schroeder Law LTD in Putnam County. She limits her practice to business, real estate, estate planning and agriculture issues in northwest Ohio. She can be reached at [email protected] or at 419-659-2058. This article is not intended to serve as legal advice, and specific advice should be sought from the licensed attorney of your choice based upon the specific facts and circumstances that you face.
