About that Free Medicaid Expansion…It Taxes Your Estate After You Die

About that Free Medicaid Expansion…It Taxes Your Estate After You Die

You know that Medicaid expansion Obama and the Democrats wanted to force on all the states? It comes with a nice estate tax:

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As fine print is wont to do, it had buried itself in a long form – Balhorn’s application for free health insurance through the expanded state Medicaid program. As the paperwork lay on the dining-room table in Port Townsend, Prins began reading.

She was shocked: If you’re 55 or over, Medicaid can come back after you’re dead and bill your estate for ordinary health-care expenses.

But, but, but…it free, right?

Not so much:

The way Prins saw it, that meant health insurance via Medicaid is hardly “free” for Washington residents 55 or older. It’s a loan, one whose payback requirements aren’t well advertised. And it penalizes people who, despite having a low income, have managed to keep a home or some savings they hope to pass to heirs, Prins said.

With an estimated 223,000 adults seeking health insurance headed toward Washington’s expanded Medicaid program over the next three years, the state’s estate-recovery rules, which allow collection of nearly all medical expenses, have come under fire.

It’s interesting that this was mandatory at first. Someone wanted every person in America over 55 who took advantage of this “free” healthcare to end up paying.

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