Rebecca Miller said her father was on Medicaid for about two years and she served as his caretaker at his home after he was diagnosed in 2018 with Parkinson’s disease, from which he died last August.
About 30 days later while still mourning David Miller’s passing, the 36-year-old said she received a letter from the Ohio Attorney General’s Office stating her father owed $56,000 to Medicaid Estate Recovery.
The Medicaid collection program was foreign to the Clinton County woman, as it is to the vast majority of people, attorneys said.
The state notice was a jolt, informing Miller that her father’s house — for which she said the mortgage has been paid in full and is “the only real home that I’ve ever known” — was at risk, potentially leaving her homeless.
The AG’s letter stated “that they were going to take the place because of a $56,000 lien from Medicaid,” she said. “I’ve even called Medicaid myself to find out why — what kind of services are you saying (he owes) $56,000 for?”
Stories like Miller’s are “the classic Medicaid estate recovery” experience in the federally mandated program, one elder care and Medicaid planning south suburban Dayton attorney told the Dayton Daily News.
Ohio’s AG’s office — which collects the funds for the Ohio Department of Medicaid — has recovered more than $270 million since 2019, a year in which more than $730 million was collected nationwide, records show.
Washington Twp. attorney Ted Gudorf said he has a client who has been in a Kettering elderly care facility since last October.
“She’s run up a bill of $75,000. Her house is in Kettering. Her son is living in the house,” Gudorf said. “The facility has not applied for Medicaid yet … She’s going to go on Medicaid and when she dies, the state of Ohio will come back in and will seize that house, sell it … That happens on a regular basis.”
“No homes are seized,” Ohio AG press secretary Steve Irwin told this news organization. “Funds are recovered out of the sale of homes, but we do not take possession of a property.”
About estate recovery
Medicaid provides health coverage to millions of Americans, including eligible low-income adults, children, pregnant women, elderly adults and people with disabilities.
Estate recovery, which started in 1995,
seeks to obtain repayment of the cost of benefits once a Medicaid recipient dies, according to the Ohio Department of Medicaid. Action is taken involving those who were either permanently institutionalized or 55 years or older, records show.
Among the instances when recovery occurs are after the death of the Medicaid recipient’s surviving spouse and when that the deceased recipient has no surviving children younger than 21, documents show.
“The AGO will send a notice of claim to the estate’s executor requesting payment for the cost of Medicaid benefits,” according to the state’s guidelines.
David Miller had retired and was receiving a modest monthly pension when he was approved for Medicaid benefits, his daughter said.
Rebecca Miller said she cared for her father at his home, he didn’t have a nurse and was never in a nursing home, so she was surprised at the attorney general’s letter seeking $56,000.
About 30 days later while still mourning David Miller’s passing, the 36-year-old said she received a letter from the Ohio Attorney General’s Office stating her father owed $56,000 to Medicaid Estate Recovery.
The Medicaid collection program was foreign to the Clinton County woman, as it is to the vast majority of people, attorneys said.
The state notice was a jolt, informing Miller that her father’s house — for which she said the mortgage has been paid in full and is “the only real home that I’ve ever known” — was at risk, potentially leaving her homeless.
The AG’s letter stated “that they were going to take the place because of a $56,000 lien from Medicaid,” she said. “I’ve even called Medicaid myself to find out why — what kind of services are you saying (he owes) $56,000 for?”
Stories like Miller’s are “the classic Medicaid estate recovery” experience in the federally mandated program, one elder care and Medicaid planning south suburban Dayton attorney told the Dayton Daily News.
Ohio’s AG’s office — which collects the funds for the Ohio Department of Medicaid — has recovered more than $270 million since 2019, a year in which more than $730 million was collected nationwide, records show.
Washington Twp. attorney Ted Gudorf said he has a client who has been in a Kettering elderly care facility since last October.
“She’s run up a bill of $75,000. Her house is in Kettering. Her son is living in the house,” Gudorf said. “The facility has not applied for Medicaid yet … She’s going to go on Medicaid and when she dies, the state of Ohio will come back in and will seize that house, sell it … That happens on a regular basis.”
“No homes are seized,” Ohio AG press secretary Steve Irwin told this news organization. “Funds are recovered out of the sale of homes, but we do not take possession of a property.”
About estate recovery
Medicaid provides health coverage to millions of Americans, including eligible low-income adults, children, pregnant women, elderly adults and people with disabilities.
Estate recovery, which started in 1995,
seeks to obtain repayment of the cost of benefits once a Medicaid recipient dies, according to the Ohio Department of Medicaid. Action is taken involving those who were either permanently institutionalized or 55 years or older, records show.
Among the instances when recovery occurs are after the death of the Medicaid recipient’s surviving spouse and when that the deceased recipient has no surviving children younger than 21, documents show.
“The AGO will send a notice of claim to the estate’s executor requesting payment for the cost of Medicaid benefits,” according to the state’s guidelines.
David Miller had retired and was receiving a modest monthly pension when he was approved for Medicaid benefits, his daughter said.
Rebecca Miller said she cared for her father at his home, he didn’t have a nurse and was never in a nursing home, so she was surprised at the attorney general’s letter seeking $56,000.
