The claim shall be waived by the division (a) if there is a surviving spouse; or (b) if there is a surviving dependent who is under the age of 21 years-old or who is blind or disabled; or (c) as provided by federal law and regulation, if it is determined by the division or by court order that there is undue hardship.
Medicaid does not count your home is an asset, so long as it is YOUR primary residence (you live in it 24/7). The only time Medicaid may interfere with your home is if you need long-term care. If you do, in some states, Medicaid may keep your home when you pass away to sell in order to recoup some of your care costs.
Homestead Protection in Mississippi
A landmark case, Estate of Darby v. Stinson, further solidified these protections. The Mississippi Court of Appeals ruled that homestead property passing to a decedent's surviving spouse, children, or grandchildren is exempt from Medicaid estate recovery.
It's possible that Medicaid can take your house through estate recovery if you were 55+ years of age and received Medicaid-covered long-term care services. There are exceptions to the estate recovery rule, which also may vary by state.
The person you care for can transfer assets into an irrevocable trust to protect them from Medicaid spend-down or penalties, as long as they set up the trust more than five years prior to applying for Medicaid. Any assets in the trust must stay in the trust until after your loved one passes away.
A Medicaid agency cannot collect more from one's estate than the amount in which it paid. For example, if the state paid $153,000, but one's estate is worth $300,000, Medicaid can only take $153,000. With MERP, all states are required to seek recovery from the deceased Medicaid recipient's “probate estate”.
There would be no problem with Medicaid and a jointly owned home in your state if a Medicaid recipient has an interest in a property equal to their financial contribution. For instance, your mother pays a third of the purchase price, and you and your spouse contribute two-thirds.
Can Medicare take your home to cover nursing home expenses? Medicare can't take your home and doesn't cover nursing home room and board. However, a Medicaid lien can be placed on your home, and they can sell it once you pass to recover the funds.
If you are single, need care, and are unable to return home, your home is now an available asset that the government can take to pay for your care. If you are married and your spouse goes into a nursing home, your home is protected as long as you do not need care and it is under the equity limit.
California stands apart from the other states. In CA, Medicaid (Medi-Cal) recipients can gift inheritance, which is considered “income”, the month in which it is received. Furthermore, Medi-Cal recipients have no asset limit, and therefore, can have unlimited assets and still be eligible for long-term care benefits.
The correct answer is no, but there is a way around this. If you are on Medicaid pending sale of the home, once it is sold you will either repay Medicaid or use the proceeds to once again pay for your long term care until you are down to under $2000 again (assuming you are single).
Once your home is in the trust, it's no longer considered part of your personal assets, thereby protecting it from being used to pay for nursing home care. However, this must be done in compliance with Medicaid's look-back period, typically 5 years before applying for Medicaid benefits.
Learn more about MERP. California eliminated their asset limit effective 1/1/24. While this means one's home is automatically safe from Medicaid while they are living, the home is not necessarily safe from Medicaid's Estate Recovery Program.
Special needs trusts help you to manage inheritance money so it won't count toward income-based benefits like Medicaid and Supplemental Security Income (SSI). The money in special needs trusts must pay for expenses your government benefits don't cover.
And while a nursing home itself cannot take your home, those relying on Medicaid may have their home seized by the federal government after passing away as the government's means of recouping their investment in your care.
In 1999, the Legislature restored the Medicaid recipient's right to challenge a DHS decision regarding Medicaid liens. This statutory right to challenge DHS is in effect today. But you still have to jump through hoops to do so.
There are also two state exceptions when it comes to the Look-Back Period – California and New York. There is no Look-Back Period for HCBS Waivers in California, and it's 30 months (2.5 years) for Nursing Home Medicaid, although that will be phased out by July 2026, leaving California with no Look-Back Period.
This means that Medi-Cal is able to put a lien on that home for the amount that they expended on your care. Fortunately, there are planning opportunity available to avoid the lien on that home and to avoid recovery against your estate.
Some states, like New York and Illinois, allow you to keep significantly more assets, and other states, like Connecticut, less. California is the only state that doesn't have an asset limit for Medicaid, starting in 2024.
If a home owned by a Medicaid Asset Protection Trust is sold, the Grantor is not entitled to the proceeds from the sale. But, if the Trustee invests the proceeds from the sale, the Grantor could collect any interest or dividends generated.