Good morning and welcome to the Sunday edition of Morning Wire, where we give you the weekend rundown to get ready for the week ahead. Today, Iceland’s volcano erupts again, one California lawmaker’s pursuit of happiness and St. Patrick’s Day history.
But first, how Medicaid expenses haunt some families after death. |
Imani Mfalme poses for a portrait outside her late mother's house. (AP Photo/Caitie McMekin) |
State Medicaid offices target dead people’s homes to recoup their health care costs |
Sandy LoGrande thought it was a mistake when, a year after her father’s death, the state of Massachusetts billed her $177,000 for her father’s Medicaid expenses and threatened to sue for his home if she didn’t pay up quickly.
But it wasn’t a mistake. It was part of the federal government’s routine process that requires every state to recover money from the assets of dead people who relied on Medicaid, the taxpayer-funded health insurance for the poorest Americans. Read more. |
