123rd MAINE LEGISLATURE
LD 970 LR 1061(02)
An Act To Eliminate the Estate Recovery Delayed Claims Exemption
Fiscal Note for Bill as Amended by Committee Amendment "     "
Committee: Health and Human Services
Fiscal Note Required: Yes
             
Fiscal Note
Potential current biennium cost increase - General Fund
Fiscal Detail and Notes
The bill eliminates the provisions of MaineCare estate recovery law that allow the State to recover MaineCare expenses from deceased MaineCare recipients whose estates have passed to their spouse or disabled child upon the death of that spouse or child.  While such recoveries have yet to begin because the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has informed the Department of Health and Human Services that exemption provisions in the state's estate recovery law violate the federal Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, repealing the state's ability to pursue these "delayed estate recoveries" even after the provisions objectionable to the CMS are repealed, could result in costs to the MaineCare program in the form of reduced estate recoveries.