Can Medicaid come after your house?

Asked by: Breanne Hermann  |  Last update: July 30, 2025
Score: 4.3/5 (36 votes)

When you use Medicaid benefits to pay for long-term care, the state will attempt to recover the costs of your care after your death. This process, known as estate recovery, can allow Medicaid to place a lien on your home.

Can Medicaid go after house?

No Medicaid does not seize assets or homes. Spending down is all on the family. Whatever financial assets there are need to be spent down usually on the persons care.

How do I protect my assets from Medicaid?

A Medicaid Asset Protection Trust is exactly as it sounds—a trust designed to protect assets from being counted for Medicaid eligibility. An MAPT allows a person to qualify for long term care benefits from Medicaid, while protecting assets from being depleted if long-term care is needed.

Does Medicaid come to your house?

Medicaid coverage can include medical care, prescriptions drugs, and long-term care, which can be provided at home, in the community, or in a facility such as a nursing home.

Can medical go after your house?

Can the State Take my Home If I Go on Medi-Cal? The State of California does not take away anyone's home per se. Your home can, however, be subject to an estate claim after your death. For example, your home may be an exempt asset while you are alive, and not counted for Medi-Cal eligibility purposes.

Medicaid Can't Take Your House! If You Do This...

42 related questions found

How to avoid nursing home taking your house?

7 Ways to Protect Your Home From Being Taken
  1. Purchase Long-Term Care Insurance. ...
  2. Sell or Transfer Assets. ...
  3. Create a Medicaid Asset Protection Trust. ...
  4. Choose Home Health Instead. ...
  5. Form a Life Estate. ...
  6. Purchase a Medicaid-Compliant Annuity. ...
  7. Pay With Your Life Insurance Policy.

How do I avoid a Medicaid lien?

A Medicaid lien allows the state to recover expenses paid on behalf of the Medicaid recipient after their passing, potentially impacting the inheritance of heirs. 1. Exempt Transfers: One of the most common strategies is to transfer the home out of the Medicaid applicant's name before applying for benefits.

Do I have to pay back Medicaid if I sell my house?

Note: California stands apart from the other states. CA eliminated their Medicaid (Medi-Cal) asset limit effective 1/1/24. Medi-Cal applicants and beneficiaries can have unlimited assets and still be eligible for Medi-Cal. They could sell their home and it have no impact on their eligibility.

Can the government put a lien on your house?

A lien secures the government's interest in your property when you don't pay your tax debt. A levy actually takes the property to pay the tax debt. If you don't pay or make arrangements to settle your tax debt, the IRS can levy, seize and sell any type of real or personal property that you own or have an interest in.

Can Medicaid see your bank account?

This makes sense given Medicaid is a need-based program with financial eligibility requirements so they need to verify your assets. Medicaid agencies can check your bank account balances at any financial institution you've used during the month you apply or during a 5 year look-back period.

Can you hide assets to qualify for Medicaid?

Purposely not disclosing asset information in order to gain Medicaid eligibility is illegal. It is fraud, and consequences for hiding assets can be severe, including jailtime and hefty fines. Furthermore, persons should not gift assets as a means to “hide” them and qualify for Medicaid.

How often does Medicaid check your assets?

Yes, income and assets have to be verified again for Medicaid Redetermination. After initial acceptance into the Medicaid program, redetermination is generally every 12 months. The redetermination process is meant to ensure the senior Medicaid beneficiary still meets the eligibility criteria, such as income and assets.

Will I lose my Medicaid if I inherit a house?

California stands apart from the other states. In CA, Medicaid (Medi-Cal) recipients can gift inheritance, which is considered “income”, the month in which it is received. Furthermore, Medi-Cal recipients have no asset limit, and therefore, can have unlimited assets and still be eligible for long-term care benefits.

How to protect assets from Medicaid?

The person you care for can transfer assets into an irrevocable trust to protect them from Medicaid spend-down or penalties, as long as they set up the trust more than five years prior to applying for Medicaid. Any assets in the trust must stay in the trust until after your loved one passes away.

What happens to assets if you go into a nursing home?

No one “takes” assets from the patient; the nursing home simply requires payment for its services if the patient intends to reside in the nursing home. The notion of assets being seized by the government or a nursing home is only one of several misconceptions about paying for long term care.

Can you own a home while on Medicaid?

Learn more about MERP. California eliminated their asset limit effective 1/1/24. While this means one's home is automatically safe from Medicaid while they are living, the home is not necessarily safe from Medicaid's Estate Recovery Program.

Will I lose Medicare if I sell my house?

What Happens to My Medicare if I Sell My House? Selling your home could lead to higher Medicare premiums if your taxable income sees a boost. Although your Medicare benefits shouldn't change when you sell your home, your monthly premiums may. It depends on whether the sale of your home affects your taxable income.

Can a nursing home take your inheritance?

With the passage of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, state Medicaid officials have the power to recoup any covered funds from your estate after you pass away. This means that unshielded assets could be lost for future generations unless proper steps are taken beforehand in preparation for nursing home care.

How do I know if Medicaid has a lien on my house?

Contact your state Medicaid agency: Besides checking land records and consulting with attorneys, consider contacting the state Medicaid agency directly. They can provide specific information on whether a Medicaid lien has been placed on the property in question and guide you on the next steps if a lien is found.

Can you be removed from Medicaid?

If your state says you're no longer eligible for Medicaid or CHIP coverage, you can re-apply through your state at any time to find out if you still qualify.

Can medical take your inheritance?

Receiving an inheritance may impact eligibility for Medi-Cal benefits. As a recipient of government benefits, you may not have more than $2,000 in assets before your eligibility for government benefits will be affected. To avoid this from happening is to disclaim your inheritance.

What happens to your bills when you go into a nursing home?

If you have existing unpaid medical bills, and go into a nursing home and receive Medicaid, the program may allow you to use some or all of your current monthly income to pay the old bills, rather than just to be paid over to the nursing home, providing you still owe these old medical bills and you meet a few other ...

How to protect your assets from the government?

The two most common ways to protect assets are:
  1. Choosing a protective business structure: It is not easy for the IRS to obtain property from an LLC or other corporation. ...
  2. Establishing legal trusts: Though usually related to estate planning, trusts legally shift ownership of assets whenever you decide.

What happens to my mom's house if she goes into a nursing home?

For your parents, it may be illegal to sell the house and property. If your parents are going to live in a nursing home, the facility will very likely place a lien on the house.