I agree with you completely. This is a welfare program funded by taxpayers. If there are assets to recover after death, it should absolutely happen. I suspect this article is designed to shock the consequence of the uninformed masses as a way to usher in the idea of eliminating recovery programs.
*conscience
Imagine if the government did not allow for collection avoidance by legal means that about 99% of families get.
People would sell their US houses and get elder care in Third World countries with cheap labor. There would be few US nursing homes and few US nursing home jobs.
Also, it should be noted, Medicaid nursing care is a form of value receivable for paying 1040 taxation.
If the middle class can get no value from paying federal taxes, much of the middle class will not vote for any politician that wants to levy the middle class.