I received a letter stating a lien on my dad’s estate. Says $’s owed to Medicaid. Can the facility apply for Medicaid without my (POA) or my dad’s consent?

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I received a letter stating a lien on my dad’s estate. Says $’s owed to Medicaid. Can the facility apply for Medicaid without my (POA) or my dad’s consent?

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I never received a bill and constantly called and asked about dollars due. I had already paid out of pocket for my dad’s care in a previous facility and knew it was too late to transfer $’s and expected to have to pay for his care. Rehab facility told me that there wasn’t a bill because my dad was transferred in under a “COVID Waiver”. Now I have notice of a lien against his estate for $33K. Can the facility apply for Medicaid without my (POA) or my dad’s consent? This is New York social services. Will be one year on July 3rd that my dad passed.

Elder Law Medicaid Paying for Care

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Section 1135 was a temporary/emergency waiver that the Department of Health put into effect during COVID affected Medicare & Medicaid.

It was temporary, the amount waived is still owed from the estate, yes, they can collect from the estate and are real tough when it comes to collecting money, Medicaid is organized unlike other governmental departments.

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That is definitely the truth.

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Just remember it is DAD'S estate that is liened. You have no personal responsibility for this bill.

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You need to talk to the NHs finance department and find out how Dad could be on Medicaid without you knowing about it. I would have thought when u asked for a balance, you would have been told that. Was his SS and any pension going to the NH for his care?

The letter is from Medicaid Recovery. If Dad has no estate (and shouldn't if he was on Medicaid) then you tell Recovery that. Dad died with no estate. If there is a house or car then thats his estate. You will need to sell the home for at least what Medicaid is owed. When I sold my Moms house I had taxes due, a water bill and Medicaid. I received enough for the house to cover all the liens. Property taxes get paid over Medicaid. The house needs to sell at Market value if the Medicaid lien is higher than the MV of the house.

You personally do not owe this. Actually, your POA stopped at death.

Please come back and update us. There was a similar post some months back where a NH applied for Medicaid without family knowledge.

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I don’t think the house, if there is one, has to be sold to satisfy a Medicaid lien. At least not in all states. But when and if it is ever sold then the lien has to be paid.

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Apparently different states have different time limits on how long after death Medicaid can attempt estate recovery. If your dad's state has a one year time period, his estate might still be subject to estate recovery. We had a somewhat similar situation with my brother in law with the covid waiver, though he is still alive and in a nursing home. My husband and his brothers sold a piece of land, and my husband (POA) notified the state Medicaid program right away because he wanted to pay back Medicaid so his brother wouldn't lose eligibility. They said because of the waiver, he shouldn't worry about it now and brother could have this asset and still retain eligibility. Brother had two annual eligibility reviews and they still didn't ask about the money. My husband passed away last year and their younger brother who was the secondary POA is now the primary. Younger brother went in to talk to the state DHHS because they hadn't sent any notification for an annual review and it was overdue. Finally they did make arrangements to have the state paid back enough so that my brother in law's assets are now within state Medicaid guidelines. (Our state is very generous and allows Medicaid LTC recipients to have up to $10,000 in assets.)

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Which state?

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My condolences on your loss. It’s hard to get past the death and the whole Covid blanket we were under last couple of years. Then so,erring like this surfaces. So is letter from State Medicaid division or from an outside contractor who does recovery for Medicaid?

Is it a NOI aka Notice of Intent with a specific $ amount due from the Estate of the Medicaid recipient and accompanied by a questionnaire?. The questionnaire will be 2-4 pages and asking ?’s like what assets were @ date of death, if probate is/was opened, after death costs & how paid, life insurance beneficiary info type of questions.
OR
the letter has details on actual lien or securitization attached to an actual property?…. It should have the legal description of the property (not just the address),,like what is written in a Warranty Deed, maybe it’s tax assessor/ collector account # and some sort of indication how it was entered /recorded with date details at the courthouse.
All this will imo make a difference as to what kind of problem it is.

Re-read what JoAnn posted. She is spot-on that you are no longer POA. POA stopped day of death. Only if you are Co-owner on property, named Administrator by the court or Executor as per the will or can file small estates affidavit for the Estate can you do actions for the Estate. You - as a heir or family member - cannot be made to sell a property, deal with its upkeep, pay property taxes, etc. It’s on you to choose to do this.

The recovery letters seem to get sent out to all on LTC Medicaid as a matter of correction. So if he did not own any property, thetes no estate = no recovery as mo assets.

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Igloo, she says she was paying dad's bills from her own funds and she asks if anyone might have applied for Medicaid without her permission when she was POA. Do you know if this could happen? I would love to know the answer myself.

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if the estate passed to you,yes but they should of let you know this would happen. its called estate recovery asset. how else would it be paid/ any long term ins?

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I get furious when people spend money I did not authorize. All it does is lead to a law suit. The problem with our care system is they do not disclose the cost prior to giving care. The only industry in the country that gets away with it. I am constantly pressured to use Medicaid for my wife and always say no because I have too much to loose and a long life ahead. I worry the most about her in facilities where they do things without authorization. If necessary I will shove a contact in front of them.

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Do you realize your assets can be split. Wifes half going towards her care and when almost gone u apply for Medicaid. You become the Community Spouse, remaining in the home, have a car and enough or all of your monthly income to pay bills. By having her in an AL I would think that is draining your assets. Some people have lost everything by paying for someone to stay in a facility. I was told I could shop around when having a procedure done. You can call around to hospitals and compare prices and then go from there. I am sure if you ask a doctors billing clerk the doctors cost for a procedure, you will be told.

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SallyAnnKnits: As it relates to Medicaid, a house is a non countable asset if the individual is still living. Your father would had to apply for Medicaid. You could garner an answer by retaining an elder law attorney.

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I received a letter stating a lien on my dad’s estate. Says $’s owed to Medicaid. Can the facility apply for Medicaid without my (POA) or my dad’s consent?

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