Medicaid Estate Recovery in Missouri

Medicaid Estate Recovery in Missouri: key facts

Who is subject

Estates of MO HealthNet participants. The state does not seek repayment for benefits received before the participant was age 55, and a TEFRA lien may be placed on the home of a participant age 55 or older in long-term nursing facility care.

Recovery scope

The cost of MO HealthNet benefits, recovered from estate assets such as homes, savings, and retirement accounts, plus remaining personal-funds and surplus burial-plan balances at the facility.

Recovery deferred

MO HealthNet will not pursue estate recovery while there is a surviving spouse, a surviving child under age 21, or a surviving child of any age who is blind or disabled.

Release before closing

An estate may not be closed for a deceased MO HealthNet participant until the MO HealthNet Division issues a release of its estate recovery claim (Mo. Rev. Stat. 473.398).

Governing law: Mo. Rev. Stat. 473.398, 208.215

Steps to take when someone dies

1. Determine whether the deceased was enrolled in MO HealthNet at the time of death.
2. When the estate is opened, the representing attorney completes the MO HealthNet Estate Notice form (2575-009) and sends it to the MO HealthNet Division by email, fax, or mail.
3. MO HealthNet returns the completed form indicating whether it will assert or waive an estate recovery claim and, if asserted, the amount.
4. Address any claim as a debt of the estate before distributing assets to heirs.
5. Obtain the release of the estate recovery claim from MO HealthNet — issued after the claim is paid, or confirming the decedent was not a participant — and file it with the probate clerk before closing the estate.

Frequently asked questions