This article will provide several free resources where you can find general information about the Medicaid estate recovery program. If you are actually facing a Medicaid payback through estate recovery, you should hire a lawyer who is familiar with Pennsylvania’s estate recovery program to see what can be done to minimize the payback.
Once Medicaid long-term care benefits have been approved the estate recovery debt begins to accrue. For some, they do not find out about the payback until after the death of a loved one when they receive a letter from the Estate Recovery Program inquiring about assets.
You can find free information about Pennsylvania’s Medicaid Estate Recovery Program in these ways:
- A deeper dive into the estate recovery can be found in “Chapter 6 Estate Recovery” of the law treatise, Pennsylvania Medicaid, Long-term Care, which is updated annually by the author, Robert C. Gerhard, III. This is a reference book other Pennsylvania lawyers use to research estate recovery. Purchasing the book is expensive, but it is in most law libraries and can be borrowed at no cost.
- Call the Estate Recovery Program with general questions at (800) 692-7462. This phone number is helpful for basic information and general questions, but they do not provide legal advice.
- Pennsylvania’s Estate Recovery Program has a website that offers basic information about the program as well as an online brochure. The government’s own Estate Recovery brochure recommends that you “may want to talk with a lawyer” or in the case of a deed transfer that it is “very important to talk with your lawyer.”
- More detailed information can be found in the regulations applicable to estate recovery, which can be found at 55 Pa. Code §258. These regulations can be found online for free at https://www.pacodeandbulletin.gov/ Although some of the regulations have not kept pace with the changes in administration of the program over the years, reading these regulations is good starting point for learning about the estate recovery program.
The direct path to secure answers to your estate recovery questions is to contact our law office for a consultation.
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Disclaimer: We recommend that you receive ongoing legal advice from an elder law attorney before attempting to navigate the Medicaid application process. If you have questions or wish to secure our services, please contact us.
