I'd like to add to Pam's answer, MERP can be done for other Medicaid paid for services in addition to NH costs. Participation in other programs - like in home health aids, or community based care systems - if they use Medicaid's diversionary funding to pay for the program, will cause a MERP "letter of intent" to file a claim or a lien against the deceased estate for the recovery. Your state's Medicaid site should have a list of programs within MERP recovery purview.
States have been able to do MERP now for several years. However, it is only the past couple of years, that states have turned over MERP functions to outside contractors (PCG & HMS are the 2 big ones) which are much more pro-active in recovery. Just how the recovery is done is very much interdependent on your state laws for probate and the exemptions and exclusions allowed within your state's Medicaid program.
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States have been able to do MERP now for several years. However, it is only the past couple of years, that states have turned over MERP functions to outside contractors (PCG & HMS are the 2 big ones) which are much more pro-active in recovery. Just how the recovery is done is very much interdependent on your state laws for probate and the exemptions and exclusions allowed within your state's Medicaid program.
So Liz, did you get a MERP related letter?
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