What does the Texas Medicaid Estate Recovery Program recover?

Medicaid Estate Recovery in Texas

Texas recovers the cost of certain long-term care services from the probate estate of a person who received them at age 55 or older and who first applied for those services on or after March 1, 2005. Recovery is limited to the probate estate and several conditions remove an estate from recovery entirely.

OverviewWhen someone dies

Medicaid Recovery

Texas

hhs.texas.gov/regulations/legal-information/your-guide-medicaid-estate-recovery-program→

Administering agency

Texas Health and Human Services Commission — Medicaid Estate Recovery Program (MERP)

Phone800-641-9356

WebsiteVisit website →

Authority

1 Tex. Admin. Code §§ 373.103, 373.207, 373.209, 373.215

Verified Jul 2026

Medicaid Estate Recovery in Texas: key facts

Recovery scope: Covered Medicaid long-term care services received at age 55 or older — nursing facility services, intermediate care facility services, home and community-based services, and related hospital and prescription drug costs.
Who is subject: Recipients who were age 55 or older when the services were received and who initially applied for covered long-term care services on or after March 1, 2005, when the program began.
No recovery is sought when: There is a surviving spouse; a surviving child under 21; a surviving child of any age who is blind or permanently and totally disabled under Social Security requirements; an unmarried adult child who lived full-time in the Medicaid recipient's home for at least one year before the death; the value of the estate is $10,000 or less; the Medicaid cost is $3,000 or less; or the cost of selling the property is more than the property is worth.
Undue-hardship waiver: Heirs may apply for a full or partial waiver using Form 5006, Application for Hardship Waiver. The request must be made within 60 days of the date of the MERP Notice of Intent to File a Claim, and is mailed to MERP, Hardship Waiver Request, P.O. Box 13247, Austin, TX 78711. MERP decides within 40 days of receiving the request form and all required supporting documents. The state does not grant a hardship waiver unless heirs request it and supply the requested proof.
Homestead hardship waiver: A hardship waiver that applies only to the home. The first $100,000 of the homestead's tax appraisal district value is exempt from recovery when one or more siblings or direct descendants inheriting it have gross family income below 300 percent of the federal poverty level (HHSC published the 2025 limits as $46,950 for one person and $63,450 for a family of two, adjusted each year). Appraised value above $100,000 remains subject to recovery, and when only some heirs qualify, only their share of the homestead is exempt.

Governing law: 1 Tex. Admin. Code §§ 373.103, 373.207, 373.209, 373.215

Frequently asked questions

MERP recovers the cost of covered long-term care services — such as nursing facility, intermediate care facility, and home and community-based services and related hospital and prescription drug costs — that a person received at age 55 or older and first applied for on or after March 1, 2005. Recovery comes from the probate estate.

When someone dies

Steps after a death in Texas

5-step process for Texas Health and Human Services Commission — Medicaid Estate Recovery Program (MERP).

View details →

SimplyTrust Editorial·Updated July 14, 2026

Sources

Data sourced from Medicaid Estate Recovery in Texas primary sources (4 pages reviewed). How we research.

Medicaid Recovery

Texas

hhs.texas.gov/regulations/legal-information/your-guide-medicaid-estate-recovery-program→

Administering agency

Texas Health and Human Services Commission — Medicaid Estate Recovery Program (MERP)

Phone800-641-9356

WebsiteVisit website →

Authority

1 Tex. Admin. Code §§ 373.103, 373.207, 373.209, 373.215

Verified Jul 2026

Medicaid Estate Recovery in Texas: key facts

Recovery scope

Covered Medicaid long-term care services received at age 55 or older — nursing facility services, intermediate care facility services, home and community-based services, and related hospital and prescription drug costs.

Who is subject

Recipients who were age 55 or older when the services were received and who initially applied for covered long-term care services on or after March 1, 2005, when the program began.

No recovery is sought when

There is a surviving spouse; a surviving child under 21; a surviving child of any age who is blind or permanently and totally disabled under Social Security requirements; an unmarried adult child who lived full-time in the Medicaid recipient's home for at least one year before the death; the value of the estate is $10,000 or less; the Medicaid cost is $3,000 or less; or the cost of selling the property is more than the property is worth.

Undue-hardship waiver

Heirs may apply for a full or partial waiver using Form 5006, Application for Hardship Waiver. The request must be made within 60 days of the date of the MERP Notice of Intent to File a Claim, and is mailed to MERP, Hardship Waiver Request, P.O. Box 13247, Austin, TX 78711. MERP decides within 40 days of receiving the request form and all required supporting documents. The state does not grant a hardship waiver unless heirs request it and supply the requested proof.

Homestead hardship waiver

A hardship waiver that applies only to the home. The first $100,000 of the homestead's tax appraisal district value is exempt from recovery when one or more siblings or direct descendants inheriting it have gross family income below 300 percent of the federal poverty level (HHSC published the 2025 limits as $46,950 for one person and $63,450 for a family of two, adjusted each year). Appraised value above $100,000 remains subject to recovery, and when only some heirs qualify, only their share of the homestead is exempt.

Governing law: 1 Tex. Admin. Code §§ 373.103, 373.207, 373.209, 373.215

Frequently asked questions