It’s a fear many Mainers will have as they grow older: losing their home to “estate recovery.”
It’s a little-known program that could bypass the will and could strip the family of life savings or a home if you ever need long-term care.
The federally mandated “estate recovery” program, designed to recoup Medicaid costs from the estates of those who have received MaineCare-funded care, is now under a magnifying glass.
Justice In Aging Directing Attorney Eric Carlson bluntly described the policy as “bad public policy.”
“Here comes the state, asking for what may be the entirety of the person’s estate,” Carlson said.
“The return to the state, all things considered, is relatively small. But the impact on families is tremendously harsh,” Carlson said.
The debate over estate recovery isn’t confined to Maine. Illinois Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky, a long-time opponent of the program, has repeatedly sought to repeal it at the federal level.
“It doesn’t work,” Schakowsky said.
