I see this at link buried that implies something:
“Federal policy defers to states regarding how they track or monitor assets that pass to protected relatives in cases where the State retains its right to future recoveries from Medicaid recipients’ survivors. There are logistical problems inherent in keeping track of assets for long periods of time, and figuring out which of the survivor’s assets originally belonged to the deceased Medicaid beneficiary presents a number of practical problems. In addition, some states waive future recoveries to avoid the ugly task of collecting from those relatives long after their loved one’s death or years later when they decide to move to another home. How much potential Medicaid revenue is lost when a state elects this option is not known.”
“Federal policy defers to states regarding how they track or monitor assets that pass to protected relatives in cases where the State retains its right to future recoveries from Medicaid recipients’ survivors. There are logistical problems inherent in keeping track of assets for long periods of time, and figuring out which of the survivor’s assets originally belonged to the deceased Medicaid beneficiary presents a number of practical problems. In addition, some states waive future recoveries to avoid the ugly task of collecting from those relatives long after their loved one’s death or years later when they decide to move to another home. How much potential Medicaid revenue is lost when a state elects this option is not known.”
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My state does this. The state has enormous power here.