The Chicago Tribune reports on how a "little-known" provision in the Medicaid health-insurance expansion is going to increase the practice of the government asserting liens on patients' assets to recoup expenditures on medical costs: "The issue arises because of a provision in the long-standing laws governing Medicaid that compel states to recoup certain medical costs after a person dies, either via liens placed on an individual's home or claims on their assets." Liens are not asserted in private insurance policies bought on state-based insurance exchange.
The Tribune reports that new Medicaid patients could face liens even if they don't seek medical care: "In another twist, all new Medicaid patients in Illinois were placed into so-called managed-care programs, in which the state pays insurers on a per-member per-month basis. That means people like Rosato will be racking up health care costs even if they don't seek any medical care. In theory, that money could all come out of their estates once they die."
Some states, included Oregon and Washington, have tweaked their regulations to apply recovery efforts only to long-term care, The Tribune further reports. However, Illinois has not.
The Centers for Medicaire & Medicaid Services said it will provide guidance to states sometime soon.
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