How will Medicaid costs be recovered?
The acceptance of Medicaid assistance provides a basis for the state to file a Class 7 probate claim. (This means there are six other classes of claims that receive priority in payment from the estate before Medicaid gets paid.) Examples of estate debts allowed prior to the MERP claim are funeral costs, estate administration costs, and secured claims such as mortgages or tax liens. The state will make a claim in Probate Court against the estate of a deceased Medicaid recipient for the cost of covered Medicaid long-term care services received by certain Medicaid recipients on or after March 1, 2005. Medicaid cost recovery will follow claims procedures specified in the Texas Probate Code.
