NPR published an article about a veteran who could lose the home because he needed Medicaid assistance. It is titled “They could lose the house — to Medicaid” It is a report about how a veterans can lose their home because they need Medicaid assistance to pay for long term care.
Henry Ruhl was a veteran having served in the National Guard his whole career. After he died his wife Fran Ruhl, a retired child care worker, was diagnosed with Lewy body dementia, a debilitating brain disorder. Instead of placing her in a nursing home, the family cared for her at home. A case manager from the Area Agency on Aging suggested they look into the state’s “Elderly Waiver” program to help pay expenses that weren’t covered by Medicare and Tricare, the military insurance. Their daughter Coghlan filed the application and benefits started. The form said the application was for people who wanted to get “Title 19 or Medicaid” and listed “other programs including Elderly Waiver. The form explained the Elderly Waiver “helps keep people at home and not in a nursing home.” She applied for them and the application was approved. Part of the benefit was money to the daughter for helping care for her mother.
The family didn’t realize the program was an offshoot of Medicaid, and the paperwork in her file did not clearly explain the government would seek reimbursement for properly paid benefits. When her mother died she received a claim letter from Medicaid Department stating they wanted payback in the amount of $226,611.35. The daughter said she would have declined to accept the money if she’d known they would lose the family by “Medicaid Estate Recovery.” The NPR article can be found here.