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UPDATED: JANUARY 2012

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OTHER ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS RECOVERIES

LIENS

time when s/he was ineligible. Only by instituting a court action pursuant to SSL Section 369 (2)(a)(i) can a district place a lien on a recipient's real property to recover Medicaid incorrectly paid.

NOTE: If an institutionalized individual is discharged and returns to the community, any liens against his/her real property are removed. If the individual wants to continue Medicaid coverage, his/her eligibility is determined based on his/her new circumstances.

Liens May Not Be Imposed

• Against an A/R’s homestead

o When a sibling with an equity interest in the home of a Medicaid recipient lived in the home for at least one year immediately before the recipient was institutionalized and who has lawfully resided in the home continuously since that time;

o When an adult child who lived in the home of a Medicaid recipient for at least two years immediately before the recipient was institutionalized, who provided care that may have delayed the recipient’s institutionalization and who has lawfully resided in the home continuously since that time;

o Against the real property of a permanently institutionalized individual if the value of the property when counted in determining eligibility results in the applicant having to spend down excess resources. An example is a permanently institutionalized individual who does not intend to return home and does not have a relative that would allow the homestead to be exempt from a lien (as described above). In such instances, the home is treated as a countable resource.

Institutionalized individuals are given an opportunity to transfer his/her homestead to a specified relative, before a lien is imposed. (See RESOURCES TRANSFER OF ASSETS for lists of who an A/R may transfer his/her homestead to without penalty.) Generally, the transfer is made within 90 days of the eligibility determination. A longer period may be allowed if necessitated by delays MRG