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If you have an insurance policy and are on Medicaid.

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If policy OWNER is also the Medicaid recipient, yes, Medicaid will take it under MERP (Medicaid estate recovery program) to recover costs associated with the owner's care. Attempting to hide the policy now or change the owner will result in a financial penalty. That means Medicaid will stop paying, which would be a bad situation for the patient/owner.
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Medicaid1 - realize that all after death issues from inheritance to MERP are very much determined by your state laws on probate, property & death. Whether & how MERP is done ultimately is based on your state laws.

I'm assuming this is a life insurance policy, in general, the beneficiary of the policy is who gets the money from the policy upon death. So if mom's life insurance policy beneficiary is her grandchild, then they contact the company with the death certificate and the policy info, then the insurance company pays them as per the terms of the policy. Usually is not part of mom's estate. But if the policy has mom's estate as the beneficiary, (mom retained ownership) then the estate gets the $. Often people have themselves as the beneficiary to be able to pay off a mortgage or business related costs in case they die before the mortgage is paid off or to settle business debt (key man insurance). How the estate pays out depends on state law. For example, TX probate is a level of claim state w/MERP a Class 7 claim so all other claims in Class 1 -6 against the estate are paid first. Other states are an equitable claim in probate, so MERP has a better chance of being paid.

Please read & re-read the insurance policy to see the terms. There should be a whole section on how to collect on the policy.

Oh also you need to see if there is a will. If no will, most states consider the death to be "intestate" and usually all assets of the deceased escheat to the state. That is not a good position for family to be in if MERP is an issue as the state is going to take care of it's interest first & foremost. Good luck & read that policy!
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Life insurance benefits paid to other beneficiaries are normally exempt. Cash value policies usually have to be cashed in unles reserved for burial expenses. Check with an estsate planner or lawyer who knows Medicaid and filial responsbility laws in your state.
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