Medicaid Estate Recovery in Minnesota
Minnesota Medicaid is called Medical Assistance (MA). The Department of Human Services recovers the cost of MA-paid long-term care — nursing facility services, home and community-based services, and related hospital and prescription drug services — received by a person age 55 or older, and from younger recipients who were permanently institutionalized.
OverviewWhen someone dies
Administering agency
Minnesota Department of Human Services — Medical Assistance Estate Recovery
WebsiteVisit website →
Authority
Minn. Stat. 256B.15
Verified Jul 2026
Medicaid Estate Recovery in Minnesota: key facts
- Recovery scope
- MA-paid nursing facility services, home and community-based services, and related hospital and prescription drug services received at age 55 or older (Minn. Stat. 256B.15, subd. 2).
- Who is subject
- Recipients age 55 or older when the covered services were received; younger recipients who resided in a medical institution for six months or longer with no medically reasonable likelihood of discharge.
- Expanded estate
- Recovery reaches beyond the probate estate to a recipient's interest in real property held as a life tenant or joint tenant with right of survivorship, plus joint accounts, pay-on-death accounts, and transfer-on-death and living-trust interests (Minn. Stat. 256B.15, subd. 1a).
- Recovery deferred
- No recovery while a surviving spouse is living, or while there is a surviving child under age 21 or a blind or permanently and totally disabled child (Minnesota DHS, Estate recovery and liens).
Governing law: Minn. Stat. 256B.15
Frequently asked questions
Minnesota recovers MA-paid nursing facility services, home and community-based services, and related hospital and prescription drug services received at age 55 or older, and MA paid for younger recipients who were permanently institutionalized. It is focused on long-term care and related services rather than all medical assistance.
Recovery is deferred while a surviving spouse is living, and while there is a surviving child under age 21 or a blind or permanently and totally disabled child, according to Minnesota DHS estate recovery guidance. An undue-hardship waiver may also apply.
When someone dies
Steps after a death in Minnesota
5-step process for Minnesota Department of Human Services — Medical Assistance Estate Recovery.
View details →
Sources
Data sourced from Medicaid Estate Recovery in Minnesota primary sources (2 pages reviewed). How we research.
Administering agency
Minnesota Department of Human Services — Medical Assistance Estate Recovery
WebsiteVisit website →
Authority
Minn. Stat. 256B.15
Verified Jul 2026