In a December 15, 2013 blog article titled "If you Like your house, You can Keep your house," the brave new world of "Medicaid Expansion" gets murky:
"On October 17, Beverly Woods asked a disturbing question on the DailyKos.com website.What happens to the assets of people who now meet the expanded criteria for Medicaid? Medicaid was designed to ensure healthcare for the truly destitute, and existing state and federal laws, regulations, policies, and procedures are based on the assumption that people on Medicaid have essentially no disposable assets. The Act Formerly Known as Obamacare changes that.
" Medicaid does not insure Americans against medical expenses–it loans them the money to pay expenses, and takes it all back when they die.
"You could call it a "death tax," if that term hadn’t been taken. Next year, Americans who die with more than five million dollars in assets will pay 40% in taxes. Americans who die on Medicaid will pay 100% of their Medicaid expenses before their heirs get one penny.
"Family farm? Gone. Mom and Pop shop? Gone. Nana’s house, with her snow-white picket fence around her prize-winning garden? Gone, gone, gone.
"Is there a way around this problem? There is not supposed to be, for long-term care expenses. The system is designed to loan money to people who have no assets, and to recover as much government money as possible from people who do have assets. Lots of people have tried to hide their assets from the government, with limited success. In particular, parents may not deed their houses over to their children to evade their debts–if they do, and incur medical expenses any time during the next 60 months, the children will be required to pay Medicaid back."
In a related by Dr. Jane Orient, titled ORIENT: Medicaid as a Tax on the ‘estates’ of the Poor, Arizona is specifically referenced. Dr. Orient practices internal medicine in Tucson, AZ, and is executive director of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons. She states:
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