Short answer: It can file a claim. Texas’s Medicaid Estate Recovery Program (MERP) seeks repayment from the estate for long-term care services received at age 55 or older, but it makes no claim while there is a surviving spouse, a child under 21, a blind or disabled child, or an unmarried adult child who lived in the home for at least a year before the death.
MERP applies to long-term services and supports received after age 55 (nursing facility, ICF/IID, and waiver programs including STAR+PLUS long-term care services), plus certain related hospital and drug costs, for people who began receiving these services on or after March 1, 2005.
No claim is filed when the deceased leaves:
- A surviving spouse;
- A child under 21;
- A child of any age who is blind or disabled under Social Security rules; or
- An unmarried adult child who lived continuously in the home for at least one year before the death.
HHSC’s guide also lists small estates, small Medicaid costs, and property that costs more to sell than it is worth as cases where it will not ask for money; check the current guide for the dollar thresholds.
MERP does not reach all property. HHSC’s examples of property it will not collect on include life insurance that names a beneficiary and bank accounts payable on death to another person. Excluding the home for eligibility does not protect it from MERP. Estate planning (such as how the home is deeded) should be done with a Texas attorney.