Posted on 12/16/2013 7:39:27 AM PST by afraidfortherepublic
As thousands of state residents enroll in Washington’s expanded Medicaid program, many will be surprised at fine print: After you’re dead, your estate can be billed for ordinary health-care expenses. State officials are scrambling to change the rule.
It wasn’t the moonlight, holiday-season euphoria or family pressure that made Sofia Prins and Gary Balhorn, both 62, suddenly decide to get married.
It was the fine print.
As fine print is wont to do, it had buried itself in a long form — Balhorn’s application for free health insurance through the expanded state Medicaid program. As the paperwork lay on the dining-room table in Port Townsend, Prins began reading.
She was shocked: If you’re 55 or over, Medicaid can come back after you’re dead and bill your estate for ordinary health-care expenses.
The way Prins saw it, that meant health insurance via Medicaid is hardly “free” for Washington residents 55 or older. It’s a loan, one whose payback requirements aren’t well advertised. And it penalizes people who, despite having a low income, have managed to keep a home or some savings they hope to pass to heirs, Prins said.
With an estimated 223,000 adults seeking health insurance headed toward Washington’s expanded Medicaid program over the next three years, the state’s estate-recovery rules, which allow collection of nearly all medical expenses, have come under fire.
Medicaid, in keeping with federal policy, has long tapped into estates. But because most low-income adults without disabilities could not qualify for typical medical coverage through Medicaid, recovery primarily involved expenses for nursing homes and other long-term care.
(Excerpt) Read more at seattletimes.com ...
Goodbye inheritance. The NWO style government in place is never satisfied.
This isn’t limited to Washington State, it’s everywhere.
“The ride is free, but you can’t keep what you squirreled away unless you do it 3 years before.”
It’s 5 years now.
I think they can force liquidation of a house if there is no one in it. We had to sell my mother’s condo.
You have no choice about going onto Medicare. You are forced onto it.
Geez.
That’s an intergenerational transfer of DEBT.
“I didn’t think you could keep anything. When the assets dwindle to nothing, Medicaid begins. Medicaid is triggered by everything running out.”
A spouse is allowed to keep the home, take the Medicaid spouse off the deed and keep 75,000 in assets. The rest can be spent down for legitimate expenses like a car, pre-paid funerals, etc.
The hell you say. There's no such thing as a free lunch? How many years did it take for you to figure that out?
Just out of curiosity, who have you been voting for all these years, Prins?
I’m not sure how this law eliminates private property rights. I think it’s a humane way to let elderly folks stay in their homes until they die. I don’t think you can have it both ways. Either the value of one’s home and other personal property needs to be figured into one’s personal assets before becoming eligible for Medicaid, or it needs to be done afterwards.
Intergenerational transfers are not ‘decimate’. One can still bequeath wealth to heirs legally and without taxes if you do it correctly.
My mother (God rest her soul) transferred a lot of money to her heirs legally and reported it. She wanted to give it to me and my sister, but we opted to have her transfer it to our children. It takes forethought and planning. Not waiting until you are on death’s bed.
This is not Medicare. This law applies to Medicaid.
Frankly, I think it is a good practice, if one can call anything ‘government’ good. Heirs will, of course, disagree.
But where were they when it came time to pony up hospital costs?
I think that perhaps, at least for some people, the issue is that some folks are being forced onto Medicaid, whether they like it or not, because they are low-income, but don't want to be on Medicaid. I read of an older woman in, I think, Washington state who could afford a DeathCare policy with subsidy, but because her income was so low, DeathCare wouldn't permit her to sign up for it, but threw her into Medicaid.
This was a woman with some assets (a house, if I recall correctly) that would pass to her children. She wanted to buy a policy that, with the subsidies, was affordable to her, thus at least contributing to her own health care, but was unable. She was forced by the system into welfare.
And the salt in the wound is that now, her assets will be lost to her heirs because she was forced to take welfare that she didn't want.
sitetest
Someone receives their medical care through taxpayer-funded assistance, and you stand up as a champion of "private property rights" and "rights of inheritance" when the taxpayers come back and ask to get reimbursed from the assets that remain after death? ROFL.
Let me guess. Government officials are exempt.
The phrase “force of law” needs to be clarified to a very fine point -
it is legal for them to put a gun to your head to make you comply with their will.
This should never be forgotten when it comes to “force of law”. It does indeed mean FORCE.
The "look back" period is now 5 years.
You have no choice about going onto Medicaid. You are FORCED to go on it. All alternatives have been destroyed by the feral government.
It's just remarkable how much you despise individual freedom.
ILTKYA
After you die they can take your house, your car or your personal belongings. States differ in what they take.
They can even go after assets that by-pass probate, for example, real estate in joint name and joint or payable on death bank accounts.
Some heirs are going to be surprised and very angry wishing they had done in Aunt Tillie earlier.
Nice try. We’re not talking about Medicare here. It is Medicaid, usually for those who aren’t eligible for Medicare (i.e., no Medicare contributions from their paychecks) or just plain poor with no history, no assets (supposedly), etc.
Medicaid is government charity. It should be paid back if there are assets....
So, I’ll go with another ‘geez’
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.