Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts yesterday issued a report on MassHealth estate recovery policies comparing Massachusetts’ policies to other states. Estate recovery is an effort to recover the costs of certain expenses to help finance the Medicaid program. Under federal law, states are required to recoup costs from certain Medicaid members’ estates (the money and property left after someone dies) if they received long-term services and supports (LTSS), such as care in a nursing facility or at home. Some states, including Massachusetts, exceed the federal minimum and recover the cost of all Medicaid-covered services that are provided to members over age 55, meaning more members being affected because it is not just limited to those who use LTSS.
The state’s gross estate recovery collections in 2021 are expected to be approximately $23,500,000 annually (about half of which will be returned to the federal government), inclusive of statutory program changes previously implemented by the Massachusetts state legislature in 2021 to reduce the impact on low-income members. The BCBS Foundation report lists additional options for reform of MassHealth’s estate recovery program to reduce the burden of estate recovery on impacted members and families, including:
- Prohibit estate recovery for nonmandatory services for individuals aged 55 and over
- Establish additional hardship criteria to create more relief for caregivers by exempting from estate recovery any asset that is the sole income-producing assess of a family and exempting homes of modest value from a member’s estate; and
- Waive the first $25,000 in value of any estate subject to an estate recovery claim.