WHEREAS, federal law regulates recovery of state medical assistance payments from the property of a beneficiary on whose behalf benefits were correctly paid; and

WHEREAS, current federal statutes preclude state Medicaid agencies from placing a lien for recovery of medical assistance payments against the home of any person who is an inpatient in a nursing facility, intermediate care facility for the mentally retarded, or other medical institution if a sibling with an equity interest in the home has been residing in the home for a period of at least one year immediately preceding the date of the person's admission to the medical institution; and

WHEREAS, states are not prohibited from placing a lien for recovery of medical assistance payments against a person's home if the person with the equity interest residing in the home for the requisite one-year period is the non-disabled adult child of the person for whom benefits were paid; and

WHEREAS, recovering medical assistance payments through a lien on a beneficiary's home may cause financial hardship and other difficulties for adult children with an equity interest who reside in the home, particularly if they have resided there for a lengthy period of time; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2006, the United States Congress is urged to examine the public policy underlying federal laws governing the recovery of medical assistance payments and to consider amending the law to include an exception for the placement of a lien on a beneficiary's home if the person's adult children have an equity interest in the home and have resided there for at least one year prior to the person's admittance to a medical facility; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Majority Leader of the United States Senate, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, and the members of Hawaii's Congressional delegation.

Report Title:

Recovery of Medical Assistance Payments