Medicaid Estate Recovery Programs

Programs that are responsible for implementing the 1993 federal legislation that makes it mandatory for states to attempt to recover Medicaid payments for recipients from their estates after they die; and/or which provide information about the program. Since most tangible assets are spent through Medicaid spend down, estate recovery focuses on real property, personal property or business ownership that the deceased had an interest in just prior to receiving Medicaid. Recovery applies to individuals who were age 55 or older when they received Medicaid or to permanently institutionalized adults younger than age 55. Recovery can also occur from the estate of living recipients who are in a nursing home and who have been certified that they cannot reasonably be expected to be discharged and return home. The property is exempt from estate recovery if the recipient's spouse is living there, a blind or permanently disabled child lives there, or if as a result of a state lien, additional protection for siblings and adult children can be satisfied.