Beginning July 1, there is a new requirement for all estates where the decedent was at least 55 years old at the time of death: you must send Notice of Administration to Medicaid. In a probate estate, Notice of Administration must be sent to all known or reasonably ascertainable creditors. IC 29-1-7-7(d) has been amended to state that the Notice of Administration must be sent to the Indiana Medicaid Estate Recovery if the person that died was at least 55. The reason for this amendment is because Indiana Medicaid Estate Recovery is considered a reasonably ascertainable creditor for anyone 55 and older. The address for service of notice is:
Medicaid Estate Recovery Program Indiana Family and Social Services Administration 402 W. Washington St., W382, MS 07 Indianapolis, IN 46204
The Indiana Family & Social Services Administration (FSSA) Estate Recovery Program is the entity that administers the estate recovery process for the State of Indiana. It is used by Indiana to recover money paid by Medicaid to a qualified individual. When a Medicaid recipient dies, federal and state law requires that Indiana seek to recover from the estate an amount equal to the Medicaid benefits paid on their behalf. The program seeks to recover the total amount Medicaid has paid on behalf of recipients after age 55 and in other certain limited circumstances. All funds recovered through this process are used to provide for future Medicaid recipients.
An estate consists of the assets and property, including real and personal property, owned by the Medicaid recipient at the time of death. It also includes non-probate assets, which are real and personal property conveyed through a non-probate transfer (i.e. jointly owned property that would normally pass to the joint owner or bank accounts with a POD provision). Indiana can seek to recover the following:
Real property, including property conveyed to the recipient’s survivor through joint tenancy with right of survivorship
Money remaining in the recipient’s bank account regardless if the account has a payable on death provision or has a joint owner
Money remaining in a recipient’s nursing home account
Funds remaining in a Qualified Income Trust (QIT), also known as a Miller Trust, as of the date of death
Funds remaining in a funeral trust after the funeral has been paid for in full
Annuities purchased after May 1, 2005, including annuities that do not designate the State of Indiana as the beneficiary
Assets in a revocable trust if the assets were transferred into the trust after May 1, 2002
Even if the individual was not on Medicaid, it is still required that Notice of Administration be sent to FSSA if (1) an estate is opened and (2) the individual was at least 55 years old.