“The Medicaid Rule That Can Put Your Family Home at Risk,” by Allaire Conte, Realtor.com
Quote:
“The case turns on a contradiction buried in the rules governing Medicaid and the family home: A house can be protected enough for someone to keep it while receiving benefits, but not necessarily protected enough to pass to their heirs afterward. … The mechanism is known as estate recovery. Federal law requires states to seek repayment after death for certain Medicaid costs paid on behalf of beneficiaries aged 55 and older—including long-term-care expenses that can rapidly consume the savings of people who need them.”
LTC Comment, Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform:
This article criticizing Medicaid estate recovery (MER) gets the issue upside down and backwards. Medicaid allows people with substantial wealth, including home equity, to get their LTC covered by tax payers. All it asks in return is payback from the recipients’ estates after they’ve passed on and no longer need the wealth they sheltered. It’s like a free loan eliminating the financial distress of high LTC costs. The moral and philosophical principles behind MER are sound as we’ve laid out here, here, and here.