Louisiana Department of Health, Recovery and Premium Assistance Unit

Louisiana · Medicaid Recovery

ldh.la.gov/medicaid/long-term-care

Medicaid Estate Recovery in Louisiana

After a Medicaid recipient dies, federal and Louisiana law require the Louisiana Department of Health to seek repayment from the succession estate for long-term care, home and community-based services, and related hospital and prescription drug services the person received at age 55 or older. The claim is a privilege on the succession with the same priority as the expense of last illness.

Steps to takeKey facts

Steps to take when someone dies

1
Determine whether the deceased received Medicaid long-term care, home and community-based, or related services at age 55 or older.
2
Request the Department of Health's estate recovery claim amount through its TPL Recovery Portal or its Recovery and Premium Assistance Unit before distributing succession assets.
3
Address the claim as a privilege on the succession; heirs who receive assets without resolving the claim may become personally liable up to the value received.
4
Apply for an exemption, deferral, or hardship waiver if a surviving spouse, a child under 21, a blind or disabled child, or a qualifying first-degree heir applies.

Medicaid Estate Recovery in Louisiana: key facts

What Louisiana says6

What is recovered

Long-term care, home and community-based services (including PACE), and related hospital and prescription drug services paid by Medicaid for a recipient age 55 or older.1

How the state files its claim

The Department's claim is a privilege on the succession estate, ranking equal to the expense of last illness (La. Civ. Code art. 3252 et seq.).1

The Department's claim does not accrue interest.1

When recovery is deferred or barred

Recovery is deferred while a surviving spouse is living.1

An estate is exempt if the decedent left a surviving child under 21, or a surviving child who is blind or disabled as defined by the Social Security Administration.1

Undue-hardship waiver

Recovery is waived for a first-degree heir (a child of the decedent) whose family income was 300 percent or less of the Federal Poverty Income Level the year preceding the decedent's death.1

Recovery may be waived where a child of the decedent uses the homestead as a means of livelihood, where recovery would make a child eligible for public assistance, or on other verified circumstances the Department approves. The Department verifies and approves waiver requests.1

Exemptions and protected assets

La. R.S. 46:153.4(E) bars the Department from instituting estate recovery on the first $15,000, or one-half the median value of the homestead in the parish, whichever is higher.2

When the state does not pursue a claim

La. R.S. 46:153.4(E) bars recovery where the amount is economically inappropriate in relation to the expense of recovery.2

Governing law: La. R.S. 46:153.4; La. Admin. Code Title 50, Part I, Subpart 9 (Recovery)

Sources2

  1. 1.Long-Term Care, estate recovery questions and answers (Louisiana Department of Health)
  2. 2.La. R.S. 46:153.4

Louisiana Medicaid estate recovery

Louisiana Department of Health, Recovery and Premium Assistance Unit

Verified Aug 2026

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