In Massachusetts, TEFRA liens are called “living liens” because they cannot be placed on the property of a MassHealth member once they have died. They give the State the authority to recover Medicaid payments for a member's long-term care expenses if their property is sold while the member is alive. Medicaid often pays for care in nursing homes, even for those who have assets that could be used to pay for care. After the person's death, the state Medicaid program may seek to collect those costs from the deceased person's estate.
This way, you can think of Medicaid benefits as a type of loan that needs to be repaid after you die. After the death of a Medicaid beneficiary, the state must attempt to recover from your estate any benefits you have paid for the beneficiary's care. This is called patrimonial recovery. For most Medicaid recipients, your home is the only asset available, but there are steps you can take to protect your home.
Federal and State Medicaid Law Requires MassHealth to Recover Estate Assets of Certain MassHealth Members After Their Death. This process is called “asset recovery”. Assets are used to reimburse (reimburse) the state for the cost of care MassHealth paid for the member. Not all assets and properties are subject to recovery of Medicaid assets.
Usually, a life insurance policy is not. There are ways to protect your assets and avoid paying for Medicaid, which are an important part of both the elderly law and estate planning. If Medicaid pays for care in a nursing home, are there any circumstances in which the state can keep a home before a person dies? If your household is exempt (not counted), you receive long-term care assistance from Medicaid, and you die at the age of 55 or older, the state will file an estate recovery claim for reimbursement of home and community care costs. Medicaid can also impose a lien on property while the beneficiary is still alive if they move to a nursing facility permanently.
As a result, to collect the costs of the deceased person's estate, Medicaid can keep their home after death. However, most people pay out-of-pocket for nursing home care until they have exhausted their savings, and then rely on Medicaid to pay for their care. It is vital that no assets or, in this case, money are donated from the sale of the house, as it violates the Medicaid lookback rule. In most cases, the household cannot be transferred to an adult child without violating the Medicaid review period and jeopardizing Medicaid eligibility.
Assuming both spouses were Medicaid recipients, the state will seek to raise funds for reimbursement of care by recovering the estate, unless the household has been previously transferred to one of their adult children through the child caregiver exception. This can occur if the Medicaid beneficiary pays part of the cost of care as a condition of receiving Medicaid, and the state determines, after notice and opportunity for a hearing, that the person cannot reasonably be expected to be discharged and return home. In addition to nursing home care, Medicaid may cover in-home care and some care in an assisted living facility. Bingham is unable to return home, the state Medicaid agency can impose and enforce a lien on her home because the daughter did not live in the home with Ms.
However, what really limits one of covering these expenses is that almost all of a Medicaid beneficiary's income in a nursing home should go toward their cost of care. Even if no one lives in the home, the state cannot enforce the lien as long as the Medicaid beneficiary has a living spouse, child under 21, or adult child who is blind or disabled. When your spouse moves into a Medicaid-funded nursing home, you are considered the community spouse and, as such, you have the right to keep your home. .
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