Medicaid Estate Recovery in Ohio

Medicaid Estate Recovery in Ohio: key facts

Who is subject

A recipient who was permanently institutionalized at any age, or who was age 55 or older when Medicaid medical assistance was correctly paid (O.R.C. 5162.21).

Estate-representative notice

The person responsible for the estate must submit a completed Medicaid estate-recovery notice form to the administrator within 30 days of receiving letters of administration or letters testamentary, or of filing for release from administration (O.R.C. 2117.061).

Recovery deferred

No recovery while a surviving spouse is living, or while there is a surviving child under 21 or a child who is blind or disabled under Social Security Act section 1614. Where recovery is sought against a permanently institutionalized individual, no recovery may be made against that individual's home while a qualifying sibling or a caregiver son or daughter lawfully resides in it.

Undue-hardship waiver

The Medicaid director may waive recovery where it would work an undue hardship. The criteria are in O.A.C. 5160:1-2-07 and are applied case by case — for example, where the estate is the survivor's sole income-producing asset, or where recovery would leave the survivor eligible for public assistance or without food, shelter, or clothing. A lost inheritance or a lower standard of living is not undue hardship. The request must be made within thirty calendar days after the Attorney General mailed notice of the estate-recovery claim; the department answers within sixty calendar days (O.A.C. 5160:1-2-07(I)).

Governing law: O.R.C. 5162.21; O.R.C. 2117.061

Steps to take when someone dies

1. Determine whether the deceased received Medicaid medical assistance at age 55 or older, or was permanently institutionalized at any age.
2. Within 30 days of receiving letters of authority or filing for release from administration, submit the completed Medicaid estate-recovery notice form to the administrator of the Medicaid Estate Recovery Program.
3. The administrator presents any estate-recovery claim no later than 90 days after receiving the notice form or one year after death, whichever is later (O.R.C. 2117.061).
4. Address the claim as a debt of the estate before distributing assets to heirs.
5. Request an undue-hardship waiver within thirty calendar days after the Attorney General mailed the notice of claim if recovery would work an undue hardship under O.A.C. 5160:1-2-07.

Frequently asked questions