Elder Law Center

One Essex Street

Saugus, Massachusetts 01906

Telephone 781.233.4444   Fax 781.231.2222

Saugus Advertiser   May 6, 2004

 PROTECTION OF HOME COULD RETURN

           Late last Friday night the House Ways and Means Committee passed an amendment to the budget to repeal the expanded estate recovery. I have written extensively over the past few weeks about the Expanded Estate Recovery because of it’s importance to seniors and, I guess that I’m not done.

           As a brief summary the Expanded Estate Recovery went into effect on July 1, 2003. Anyone who was in a nursing home and died before that date was under the old rules. Those old rules said that the Division of Medical Assistance could only recover against the decedent’s probate estate. The probate estate consists of assets in the decedent’s name alone. After July 1, 2003 the DMA sought to recover against non-probate assets. The major categories of assets they started going against was life estates, joint property and life insurance. For people who died from July 1, 2003 to the present and had been receiving Medicaid (MassHealth in Massachusetts), the Division of Medical Assistance (DMA) has been recovering against the decedent’s probate and non-probate property.

           The repeal of the Expanded Estate Recovery by the House is the first step. If we are to return to the point that we are able to protect your home from nursing home costs, there are a few more hurdles to clear and your help is needed. Many of you called your State Representatives to express your concern over the Expanded Estate Recovery and we must now turn our attention to the Senate.

 In Massachusetts the budget process starts with the Governor’s budget. This budget was given to the House Ways and Means Committee. The Governor’s budget did not have any language regarding the Expanded Estate Recovery. Representatives Creedon and L’Italien filed an amendment for the complete repeal of the expanded estate recovery, that passed the House and became part of the House budget.

 The House now passes it budget to the Senate Ways and Means Committee which they review, and develop their own recommendations. Once debated, amended and voted on, it becomes the Senate’s budget bill. I am now asking that you contact your Senators and request, “Please repeal the Medicaid Expanded Estate Recovery.”.

 The next step is that the House and Senate leadership assign members to a joint “conference committee” to negotiate the differences between the House and Senate bills. Once that work is completed, the conference committee returns it’s bill to the House for a vote. If the House makes any changes to the bill, it must return the bill to the conference committee to be renegotiated. Once approved by the House, the budget passes to the Senate, which then votes it’s approval.

 Once the Senate has approved the budget it goes to the Governor for signature. The Governor has ten days to review and approve it, or make vetoes or reductions. He may approve or veto the entire budget, or may veto or reduce certain line items or sections, but may not add anything.

 If the Governor vetoes the Expanded Estate Recovery provision, the House and Senate may override the veto by a two-thirds  majority in each chamber. It then becomes the final budget.

          The House members received many telephone calls and emails asking for a revocation of the Expanded Estate Recovery. They also understood that this retroactively applied law was unfair to the seniors in Massachusetts and courageously voted to repeal it. We can only hope that the Senate also hears from their constituents and follows the lead of the House.

 If you have any questions please call me at the Elder Law Center, One Essex Street, Saugus, MA 01906 (781)233-4444. To view this or any prior article, please visit our web site at www.elderlawcenter.org.

 This article gives general information and not specific advice on individual matters. Persons wanting individualized advice on matters discussed should contact an advisor experienced in those matters. To the extent this article provides information on legal matters, it is based on law in effect in Massachusetts on the date of posting (laws in effect in other states are often quite different).

 Ronald H. Surabian is a CPA and attorney who works at the Elder Law Center in Saugus, Massachusetts. He also holds a masters in accounting and a masters in tax law. He currently serves on the board of directors of the Massachusetts Chapter of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys.

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