ESTATE RECOVERY AND CAREGIVERS
Why This Legislation is Important:
In August 1993, under a
law known as the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (OBRA) '93, Congress
mandated that all states establish an Estate Recovery program.
Under Estate Recovery, at the death of an individual who has received
Medicaid benefits, the state will recover assets from that individual's
estate for the cost of the Medicaid benefits provided.
This program was implemented in Georgia as part of the fiscal year
2005 budget allowing the Department of Community Health to enforce a lien
against the individual's home unless there is a surviving spouse; a
surviving child under the age of 21; a surviving adult child who is blind or
permanently or totally disabled; an adult child of the member living in the
home if that child lived in the home at least two years prior to the
member's admission to the nursing home and provided care that kept the
member from entering a nursing home; or the member's brother or sister
living in the home if he or she lived in the home for at least two years
prior to the member's admission to a nursing home.
Estate recovery has an adverse effect on other unrelated caregivers
of seniors who may be forced to sell their homes and move from their places
of residence even though they may have lived there as caregivers for many
years.
What other
states do:
- If an individual fitting one of the categories listed above survives a member, the Department may not file a lien against the home.
- Other states such as
- This would cover friends and other supportive individuals who acted as resident caregivers for at least 2 years, continue to live in the home and can demonstrate that the care provided allowed the member to remain home.
Statistics compiled by the Department of Health and Human Services indicate that up to 24% of seniors’ caregivers are friends not related by blood or marriage to the individual.
This legislation would modify the estate recovery statute to provide a specific hardship exemption from estate recovery for unrelated caregivers who have cared for the Medicaid recipient in the home for at least two years prior to the Medicaid member's admission to a long-term care facility.
