When my mother passed away, there was over $3000 in her personal cash account. The nursing home will not release these funds to me, her caregiver, because they say, "can not release any of those funds (except to a surviving spouse or minor child) without a release from Health Management Services, an estate recovery program working with the office of the Medicaid Inspector General. Generally any personal funds that remain after a medicaid recipient passes are recouped by the medicaid dept. to offset what has been paid out for that person." Is there an appeals process, or some way to recover there funds, some of which were deposited into the account by me AFTER her death?
My mom just died and the same thing is true for us. She had a much smaller amount in her account.
None of us (her children) feel bad about this. The state administration of Medicaid was extremely well-done and beneficial for our mom. Any excess funds should go back to the state, in our view.