To: The California State House, The California State Senate, and Governor Gavin Newsom
Healthcare Should Not Be a Loan! STOP California from Taking the Homes Of Deceased Medi-Cal Reci...
Please support SB1124. If it does not pass, California plans to turn Medi-Cal into a long-term loan program for recipients age 55+. The state will bill the estates of those recipients for all of their Medi-Cal expenses from enrollment until death. Nobody should have to pay the government back for their healthcare! By passing SB 1124, California will only be able to take back the costs of nursing home, and long-term in-home and community-based care, which is required by Federal law.
Why is this important?
Medi-Cal is California’s Medicaid program. As part of ObamaCare, Medicaid has expanded to include many more adults. Under a 1993 Federal law, California has decided to take back the full cost of nearly all medical services for recipients age 55 and older by billing their estates after they die. The majority of states have chosen not to do this.
Medi-Cal “estate recovery” is a deterrent to signing people up for Medi-Cal. California’s plan forces low-income individuals to choose either receiving basic health care OR passing on their homes and other assets to their children. Indeed, the full cost of Medi-Cal services from age 55 until the time of death will often be greater than the value of the estate. Then California will be able to take everything and leave nothing for the children of the deceased.
SB1124 has been introduced into the California State Senate. Should it become law, “estate recovery” will be limited to that which is required by Federal law - the costs of nursing home and long-term in-home and community-based care.