On September 6, 2024, Governor Healey signed into law an Act to Improve Quality and Oversight of Long-Term Care — Chapter 197 of the Acts of 2024.  The 66-page Act includes many important provisions affecting long term care and related topics including significant changes to MassHealth policies regarding estate recovery.

In a victory for the elderly and people with disability, the Act includes provisions that limit MassHealth estate recovery to only federal mandated recovery for nursing home care and certain other long term care costs. It also removes estate recovery for people with disabilities receiving assistance under MassHealth’s CommonHealth program. For years, advocates have been pushing to reform MassHealth’s overly aggressive estate recovery practices.  After the death of a loved one who had received health coverage from MassHealth, families are often shocked to learn that MassHealth can recover payment from the probate estate of the deceased MassHealth member.  Until passage of this Act, MassHealth pursued reimbursement for the cost of all services after a MassHealth member turned age 55. This was above and beyond the federally required minimum for estate recovery.  The Act limits the scope of MassHealth recovery to only what is required under federal law and brings MassHealth recovery into line with the majority of other states.

Many thanks to Sen Jo Comerford and Rep Christine Barber who led the charge on this much-needed reform, as well as our partners in advocacy,  the Disability Policy Consortium (DPC) and the Mass Chapter of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA-MA).