What is the Medicaid Estate Recovery Program?

Toni,
I am a financial planner with a client who just received a bill for her mother’s Medicaid Long Term Care that was cared for at her mother’s house instead of a nursing home.   Sue is now stuck with a $67,500 bill that Medicaid says must be paid in full. Her mother died at least 8 months ago.

She recently received a document from MERP (Medicaid Estate Recovery Program) saying that Medicaid wants all the Medicaid money used for her mother’s care returned or the state is placing a lien on the house that Sue’s mother owned when she finally passed.

What is MERP?…