Will You Owe Debt After Death? The Medicaid Surprise

Townhall.com ^ | 1/27/2014 | Morgan Brittany

[rktman]

This was not in the fine print of the Affordable Care Act (that no one read), and there was nothing in it that changed the existing law from 1993. The ACA however, did expand the number of people who are eligible for Medicaid, so now there are more people from the ages of 55 to 65 whose estates could be on the hook for Medicaid expenses after the beneficiary dies.

This sounds like a cash grab to me. Many states have not changed the law to limit the amount of expenses the government can claim are owed for Medicaid, but Oregon and Washington have issued emergency rule changes.In Washington it now says that the state can only recover the cost of nursing home care for the 55-65 age groups.Oregon followed this path as well.However there are 23 other states that have expanded Medicare under Obamacare and they have not changed their estate recovery policies. This could end up with the deceased person’s heirs losing homes, property and other assets.

[maddog55]

I’ll wait till I’m about dead, get a government backed reverse mortgage on my house, give the money to the kids and when I die, the government can repossess a house from a bank they backed the mortgage on.

[dalereed]

In California they will recover anything they spent on welfare or medical.

I had a deadbeat cousin that my aunt wrote him out of her will because the state would have taken every cent.

[EVO X]

Could someone explain: I thought you had to be penniless and have NO wealth other than the maximum $2,000 to qualify for Medicaid.

Expanded Medicaid has no asset restrictions, just income which is below 138% FPL. A bunch of states decided not participate in expanded medicaid, so their rules are still in effect.

[marron]

So, if you don’t want to give your estate to the government, you must not accept medicare. Or obamacare. Or any kind of care you don’t pay cash for.

Eventually they’ll close that loophole too because, in the end, you and your estate belong to them.

[PGR88]

This article is not very clear - and indeed, Medicare/Medicaid rules are a hairball of confusing regulations.

I am going through this now with an elderly relative, who is in Medicare. Medicare insurance is covering hospital stays now, but when we reach the limit, we will need to draw down her assets. After those are gone - she will then be eligible for Medicaid.

The point of this article, I believe, is to point out that some elderly who have signed up for Obamacare may be forced into Medicaid, even if they did not intend it - meaning that the government will want all their assets before treating them. Surprise!

[Gen.Blather]

“If someone is going to require me to pay their medical bills while they’re alive, I see no reason not to ask for repayment from their assets after they pass on.”

Because the government is involved the price is inordinately inflated. In a recent example a private doctor charged $10 for a blood test to a cash patient. The same test done by a different office and charged to Medicare was $78. Not only will the service be slow and substandard, but it will be overly costly too.

The two forms of medicine that are forever decreasing in cost and increasing in quality are cosmetic surgery and Lasik surgery. Those are not reimbursed by any third party payer so the market is in force.

[Abathar]

This is why I intend to let nature take its course and refuse to be a burden on my family. I’ve worked hard my whole life and a big part of that is to secure a future for my family after I pass, especially my wife.

I saw my grandparents and father given a death sentence diagnosis then spend months and months letting them suck their insurance dry. How many times we heard “Medicare will cover “x” treatments” or “x” therapy or “x” tests, always the maximum number and no further. It was a system they had down pat to milk everyone as much as possible before they died, and I really want no part of it.

If they can give me quality of life then I will do it, but if they are only looking to give quantity then let me say goodbye, give me something to ease my going, and let life go on.

Of course people have said “You talk like that now, but wait until it ever really happens and see how you feel,” I really don’t think my mind will be changed though, I truly believe that when your time has come then bowing out gracefully and under your own terms is how it should be done.

[dalereed]

they don’t go after medicare, but they do medicaid (welfare medical care).

[Renegade]

Nope!In NJ you can even get a cheap auto insurance policy if you are on Medicaid. It only covers bodily injury. That means if you are the policy holder and have an accident the insurance will not pay toward damages of the auto you hit.That means the other guy is going to be left with out of pocket expenses for his damages with no way to recover.
This happened to my wife. Both the husband and wife that ran into my wife’s car were on Medicaid even though they were only in their thirties.(Still can’t figure how they qualified for Medicaid) We got stuck with a $500.00 bill .She was even driving on a suspended license and left the scene of the accident before the police showed up!
I’ll bet 95% of people who live in NJ don’t even know about this “special kind of insurance policy.

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[Renegade]

You have no choice on not getting Medicare.At 65 you must be enrolled in it( if you are getting Social Security) even if you have adequate insurance to cover yourself without it!Then they automatically take your payment out of your Social Security check.Double whammy for you.

[Parmy]

We have a relative who is on dialysis and in poverty and the treatments are being paid by Medicaid. Poverty through her own life's choices. Medicaid is in reality medical-welfare, with this exception.

The state considers it a loan by the taxpayers. Therefore, the state a put a leon on anything of value when she passes on.

They are interested in real property, coins or even collector cars. Incidental property of little value really doesn't concern them because of the hassle to turn that type of property into cash.

[rktman]

Yup. That paid off mortgage you have sure feels good cause the house is now finally yours. Well, not so much. Stop payin’ the property tax and find out who the house belongs to. Hey, at least it lowers your monthly outflow right? :>)

[rktman]

I keep tellin’ my better half to just take me up in the mountains in some remote area and drop me off and let nature take her course. :>) She no likey that idea.

[willibeaux]

nasc.... Some folks go through all sorts of legal manipulations to protect their assets. Will Zerocare make them invalid if heirs will still be responsible to pay off the incurred debt?

Can any other Freeper answer this question?

Thanks

[familyop]

"If someone is going to require me to pay their medical bills while they’re alive, I see no reason not to ask for repayment from their assets after they pass on."

No one can indefinitely afford the govenrment-connected medical rackets and insurance middlemen of today and the near future. The U.S.A. cannot afford them.

[voicereason]

Some states have a “filial responsibility” law. A guy just a lost a case in Pennsylvania recently where he’s on the hook for his dad’s bills.

[hinckley buzzard]

Under original Medicaid rules, to qualify you can have only a few exempt assets. These include a home if occupied by a spouse, a car for the spouse, personal belongings and household goods, burial space, life insurance if face value is 1500 dollars or less, and 1500 dollars cash. Nonexempt assets include all financial assets, real estate, more than one car, boats or other RV's, land contracts or mortgages.

Couples do have the provision for division of assets so that when one spouse goes on Medicaid the other is not impoverished. There are provisions for gifts also but they may delay or defer qualifying for Medicaid if they occur in the previous five years.

The best idea is to consult an attorney specializing in this field because penalties for ineligible distribution or hiding of assets can be severe.

The provision that seems to get people upset is that the home is not exempt if unoccupied by a spouse or the recipient is not returning within 6 months, as with a long term nursing home resident. In that case the home will be sold to recapture previous paid expenses.

[rktman]

That’s what kids are for. When you die, your debts live on.

[familyop]

"I agree with you but the same principle should apply to wall street welfare crowd."

Yes. The Federal Reserve has been buying stocks (reportedly without controlling influence in companies' decisions) and bonds for a long time. And yes, there were the bailouts, ongoing regulations against productive domestic competition and many other connections between private investors and government.

Now, lobbies are more intense in their political efforts as evidenced in hysterical speech, increasing scandal, crime rates and generally, the fights over the pile of debt. An economy can't run on piles of debt for foreign products and overproduction of U.S. dollars for long. So really, the medical racket and insurance debacle won't matter much longer for most of us.