Medicaid Estate Recovery in Ohio

Who is subject to recovery

O.R.C. 5162.21 reaches a recipient who was permanently institutionalized at any age, or who was age 55 or older when Medicaid medical assistance was correctly paid.¹

What counts as the estate

A will does not shield estate assets from the Medicaid Estate Recovery Program. The recovery claim is handled as a debt of the estate, whether or not the property passes through probate court.²

When recovery is deferred or barred

O.R.C. 5162.21 allows 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 1614.¹

Where recovery is sought against a permanently institutionalized individual, O.R.C. 5162.21 allows no recovery against that individual's home while a qualifying sibling or a caregiver son or daughter lawfully resides in it.¹

Undue-hardship waiver

O.R.C. 5162.21 directs the department to waive recovery where the Medicaid director determines it would work an undue hardship. ODM 07400 says undue hardship is determined case by case.^{1, 3}

O.A.C. 5160:1-2-07 sets the criteria: for example, the estate is the survivor's sole income-producing asset, or 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.⁴

An heir or potential heir who would suffer an undue hardship, a person with an interest in assets of the estate, or their representative may request a waiver within thirty calendar days after the Attorney General mailed notice of the claim. The department answers within sixty calendar days.⁴

How the state files its claim

O.R.C. 2117.061 requires the person responsible for the estate to 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.⁵

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.⁵

ODM 07400 makes the estate's executor responsible for notifying the Ohio Attorney General's Office of a Medicaid individual's death. Once notified, the Attorney General's Office presents a claim to the estate.³

ODM 07400 says the Ohio Medicaid Consumer Hotline can give the current estimated total for estate recovery.³

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

Medicaid estate-recovery notice form to the administrator

within 30 days of receiving letters of authority, or filing for release from administration⁵

The administrator presents its estate-recovery claim

within 90 days, or one year after death if later of receiving the notice form⁵

Request for an undue-hardship waiver

thirty calendar days after the date the Attorney General mailed notice of the estate-recovery claim⁴

Ohio Attorney General's Office, Medicaid Estate Recovery Unit

Receives notice of a Medicaid individual's death and presents the estate-recovery claim to the estate³

Phone: 1-614-779-0105

Mailing address: 30 E. Broad Street, 14th Floor, Columbus, Ohio 43215-3130

1. 1.O.R.C. 5162.21
2. 2.Estate Recovery (Ohio Department of Medicaid)
3. 3.ODM 07400, Rev. 7/2026
4. 4.O.A.C. 5160:1-2-07
5. 5.O.R.C. 2117.061