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Quirky_Butterfly_946 t1_j8uhitc wrote

FYI, MassHealth will need to be repaid to the state from your estate upon death. So what you use for Masshealth will need to be paid back. It is the same with Medicaid too.

I know this is not part of your questions, of which I do not have any answers, but thought as a PSA, people should be aware that this is not free care.

People should know what their total indebtedness is if anyone wishes to leave any estate to their children/spouse. So if someone needs to go into a nursing home too, and have it paid for by Medicaid as the costs are insane, please know that when a person dies the state can take your assets like your home to cover what they paid to the nursing home.

People should be able to know what their cost load is so that if they want to pay it down while they are alive, they should be able to do that.

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WinsingtonIII t1_j8uqiap wrote

This is a confusing topic, but this comment is a bit misleading. MassHealth (which is the same thing as Medicaid, just the MA name for it) can only recover assets via estate recovery for two categories of members:

  • Any members who received care after age 55 or older, or

  • Members of any age who were permanently in a long-term care or other medical facility (like a nursing home).

MassHealth will also not pursue any estate recovery if the value of the member’s estate is $25,000 or less and there are various ways to get a hardship waiver as described here: https://www.mass.gov/info-details/massachusetts-medicaid-estate-recovery

It does not sound like OP is in permanent nursing care given they are actively in school and working. If they are under 55 they do not have anything to worry about at this point either.

My understanding is that the reason for the 55 cut off (though personally I think it should be 65) is that everyone over 65 is eligible for the federal >65 healthcare program Medicare anyways, so they really shouldn't be on MassHealth after 65 except in very specific circumstances, which generally pertain to accessing long-term care because for some reason Medicare doesn't cover long-term care. Which is ridiculous considering Medicare is the healthcare program for 65+, and most people in long-term care are 65+. I am not sure why the cutoff for estate recovery is 55 however, this is a federal cutoff that the state follows along with.

The 2nd group of people who were permanently in a long-term care facility are primarily over 65 anyways, there are very, very few people under 65, or especially under 55, who are permanently in long-term care facilities.

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