Bill would end Medi-Cal asset seizures

29 Aug, 2014 by John Seiler

Print this article Font size -16+

“Nothing is certain in this world except death and taxes” is an old saying. California also has seizures after death.

Now, the California Legislature just passed a bill to limit the seizure of the estates of Medi-Cal recipients. The Mercury-News reported:

Hanging in the balance are the hopes — and homes — of thousands of worried Bay Area residents and Medi-Cal enrollees like Chris Darling of Richmond, Anne-Louise Vernon of Campbell and Eliza O’Malley of El Cerrito. 

Brown has until Sept. 30 to sign the bill into law or veto it. His budget advisers continue to recommend that he oppose it because they say California would lose $15 million annually in general fund revenues as a result….

But state Sen. Ed Hernandez, D-West Covina, who authored Senate Bill 1124, said the measure would ease the plight of many. If signed into law, the bill prohibits recoveries from estates of surviving spouses and provides a variety of ways for beneficiaries to find out how much of their estate is “recoverable” upon the beneficiary’s death.

What kind of advisers are these? That $15 million is a pittance in a state budget of more than $100 billion.

What happens is that someone has hard times, signs up for Medi-Cal, runs up some bills, then dies. His spouse or other heirs, inheriting maybe a house, then risk having it all taken by the state government.

Moreover, hospitals generally run up costs far higher than they need to be. So the charges also are exorbitant and unjust.

Such seizures can be avoided by estate planning. But many folks don’t know how to do that.