Little-Acorn
12-18-2013, 01:14 PM
It's buried way down in the fine print.
More and more people are finding that the high costs of Obamacare policies, are forcing them to choose Medicaid instead. But unless they read way, way down into the fine print, they may get bitten by a nasty bug, after their deaths: If you qualify for Medicaid due to low income, but still have any assets (in other words, if you haven't yet been forced to sell your house or car yet etc.), the state can come back and confiscate them after you die, to pay for your "free" medical expenses.
If you thought you might have something to pass down to your children... the government has other ideas.
Welcome to "compassionate socialism".
Yes, we had to pass the bill to find out what was in it. And boy, are we finding out.
This is one part that your heirs might find out instead. They might find that they aren't your heirs after all... the government is.
----------------------------------------------
http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2022469957_medicaidrecoveryxml.html?fb_action_ids= 10201900205440969&fb_action_types=og.recommends&fb_source=other_multiline&action_object_map=%5B369940796474962%5D&action_type_map=%5B%22og.recommends%22%5D&action_ref_map=%5B%5D
Expanded Medicaid’s fine print holds surprise: ‘payback’ from estate after death
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.
By Carol M. Ostrom
Seattle Times health reporter
BETTINA HANSEN / The Seattle Times
Sofia Prins and Gary Balhorn, both 62, decided to marry so they wouldn’t have to get health insurance individually through Medicaid, which could bill their estates after death. The Port Townsend couple’s joint income is too high for Medicaid but low enough for tax credits.
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.
More and more people are finding that the high costs of Obamacare policies, are forcing them to choose Medicaid instead. But unless they read way, way down into the fine print, they may get bitten by a nasty bug, after their deaths: If you qualify for Medicaid due to low income, but still have any assets (in other words, if you haven't yet been forced to sell your house or car yet etc.), the state can come back and confiscate them after you die, to pay for your "free" medical expenses.
If you thought you might have something to pass down to your children... the government has other ideas.
Welcome to "compassionate socialism".
Yes, we had to pass the bill to find out what was in it. And boy, are we finding out.
This is one part that your heirs might find out instead. They might find that they aren't your heirs after all... the government is.
----------------------------------------------
http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2022469957_medicaidrecoveryxml.html?fb_action_ids= 10201900205440969&fb_action_types=og.recommends&fb_source=other_multiline&action_object_map=%5B369940796474962%5D&action_type_map=%5B%22og.recommends%22%5D&action_ref_map=%5B%5D
Expanded Medicaid’s fine print holds surprise: ‘payback’ from estate after death
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.
By Carol M. Ostrom
Seattle Times health reporter
BETTINA HANSEN / The Seattle Times
Sofia Prins and Gary Balhorn, both 62, decided to marry so they wouldn’t have to get health insurance individually through Medicaid, which could bill their estates after death. The Port Townsend couple’s joint income is too high for Medicaid but low enough for tax credits.
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.