Medicaid Estate Recovery in Arizona: when someone dies
A 5-step process for Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS) — Estate Recovery after a death in Arizona.
Administering agency
Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS) — Estate Recovery
Authority
A.R.S. § 36-2935; Ariz. Admin. Code R9-22-1006, R9-28-901, R9-28-911, R9-28-912; 42 U.S.C. 1396p
Steps to take
- Determine whether the deceased received ALTCS long-term care benefits at age 55 or older on or after January 1, 1994.
- Notify AHCCCS of the estate or property within three months of the death if the member was at least 55 and AHCCCS has not already filed a statement of claim (A.R.S. § 36-2935(B)).
- Identify which assets pass through probate or a small estate affidavit, since the claim reaches only that property.
- Complete the Estate Questionnaire that HMS — the AHCCCS recovery contractor — sends, which is what identifies a statutory exemption (surviving spouse, child under 21, or blind or disabled child).
- Pay the AHCCCS claim from estate assets as a debt due to the State (A.R.S. § 14-3805) before distributing to heirs, or file an application for an undue hardship waiver or partial recovery with HMS within 30 days of the Notification of the AHCCCS Claim Against the Estate.
Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS) — Estate Recovery
Phone: 602-417-4531
Visit the agency website →Frequently asked questions
No. AHCCCS estate recovery in Arizona applies to Arizona Long Term Care System (ALTCS) services — nursing home, assisted living, adult group home, and home- and community-based care — received at age 55 or older, on or after January 1, 1994. Costs for benefits received before age 55 are not included in the claim.
The AHCCCS claim is filed only against property the member owned at death that is subject to a small estate affidavit or probate. A home is reached if it was solely owned, owned jointly without right of survivorship, or owned jointly with right of survivorship where the joint owner is already deceased.
AHCCCS delays recovery where there is a surviving spouse, a surviving child under age 21, or a surviving child of any age who is blind or disabled under Social Security criteria — proof of the exemption has to be provided. It waives the claim where an heir meets all of the undue hardship criteria, which center on the heir having lived in the home for the 12 months before the death, still living there, planning to stay, and owning no other real property. The waiver application goes to HMS within 30 days of the Notification of the AHCCCS Claim, and AHCCCS decides within 60 days.
Health Management Systems (HMS) is the private contractor that handles recoveries for AHCCCS, including claims against a member's estate and liens. HMS files a Demand for Notice with the Superior (Probate) Court and sends the personal representative a Notice of Intent to File a Claim Against the Estate and an Estate Questionnaire. AHCCCS's Third Party Liability Office can be reached at 602-417-4531.
Sources
Data sourced from Medicaid Estate Recovery in Arizona primary sources (4 pages reviewed). How we research.
Administering agency
Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS) — Estate Recovery
Authority
A.R.S. § 36-2935; Ariz. Admin. Code R9-22-1006, R9-28-901, R9-28-911, R9-28-912; 42 U.S.C. 1396p