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My mother was on a Medicaid program for Community Attendant Services with DADS in the state of Texas for 7 years until she passed in November 2021. My father submitted all answers and sent documentation to HMS proving that there IS a surviving spouse (my father) and an older adult child (my sister) living in the home, yet my father recieved a letter telling him that due to there NOT being a surviving spouse (ironically the letter was sent to him) the claim will be monetary and billed $137,000. How could they ignore him being the surviving spouse even with proof he is very much alive and living in the home? (He is NOT a Medicaid recipient) Plus, he is co-owner of the homestead and recognized as such on the deed alongside my mother's name. Could they still pursue a claim against the home or force him to pay the 137k further down the road?

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Well, somebody's ticked the wrong box, haven't they. Ring them up and get it sorted.

It really is very easily done, you know - ask a civil servant to deviate from a straight line and his/her head will explode. I have two guesses, the first being that someone's eyes went straight to "adult child" and overlooked or anyway ballsed-up logging the more important surviving spouse; and the other [whisper it] is the possibility that your Dad did not correctly fill in question 433.2 of 549.

I know of a young man who confidently told a university admissions service that he did have a criminal record. He meant, of course, that he did not have a criminal record.

I also know of an older man who sent in his divorce application and was annoyed not to have heard anything at all back from the court after several months. It transpired that he had omitted to give his name and address on Page 1.

Anyhoooo - so unless you have already challenged this claim and met with further opposition, I should just go a-hunting to track down the hitch. It will be interesting to see which particular bug in the system emerges as the culprit.
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Ylrhea Apr 2022
Some civil servants work hard and have a brain.
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The most important thing is to not pay one dime until he gets legal advice, as it could validate the claim.
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I would take all this information to a certified elder law attorney and get legal advice and help.

It is mind boggling the shear incompetence something like this takes. I am always soooo happy to pay my taxes when I read this kind of stuff.;-(
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If you have not already, go in person to the office with a certified copy of the marriage license and the deed. That may solve it quicker and lots cheaper than going straight to an attorney. Call first to make an appointment to be sure you do not need anything else. When you get there, if that person can not help you ask who is next in line and do not stop till you have it resolved or exhausted the chain of command.

You probably need to go through the chain at the Medicaid office first since a collection agency probably only has information on the amount owed and not all the details.

We owed a hospital because of a mistake made when insurance was filed. It took going up several levels of the chain to get to someone who had security access in the computer to even see the information containing the error... no one else could see it. In our case it was 16 consecutive days of the same therapy yet two random days in the middle were not covered. (I could understand if it was the first two days or the last two days.) Finally someone higher up had access to see the original coding and saw that those two days had the wrong code! Everyone lower was simply basing their info on what they saw with their access level in their computer. I kept insisting on seeing who was next in line and was referred without making appointments, going office to office as necessary and even to another building across town! After seeing several people on the same day, my problem was solved and I owed nothing.

It can save you months of agony waiting for answers or being on hold waiting for the next person. When you know you are right... definitely go in person! When a person SEES the agony in your face, most will have a bit more human compassion and are more interested in helping you. All it may take is one sympathetic overworked government worker and they may help you get to the bottom of the problem. The computer is spitting out the bills based on what a human entered long ago!

The worst case scenario I "think" is a lien is put on the house. When I worked in Medicaid Third Party Liability in our state they could only ask for the amount they had spent and collect no more than a person assets. It is possible, they may only collect your mother's portion of the house when it is sold if your father never needs Medicaid and may need to wait until your father has died. The main thing to remember, no matter what you are told here, Medicaid has state specific laws.
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I have no expertise but whenever there’s legal involved, my rule of thumb: Document. Document. Document.
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Have you considered this may be a scam? There are many of them out there that kinda, sorta sound legit. Take the documents to an elder law attorney, CELA certified.
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An error has been made. Its not collections its recovery. He was a Community Spouse the whole time Mom was on Medicaid so that should be in their records. He must have paperwork showing that. His marriage certificate and proof he is on the deed. I would call the person who sent the letter. They may need Dads permission to talk to you. Tell them what information do they need to prove Dad was a community spouse and as such should be able to remain in the home. Besides, he owns the home. What should happen is he remains in the home and a lien will be placed on it that will need to be satisfied at death or sale of the house. If you don't get anywhere, then a lawyer is needed.
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In reply to KPWs reply. I could not deal with the local County office when Recovery got involved. I had to contact the Office in our State Capitol. I did get a person but that was before COVID. Believe me I was not driving into Trenton.😊

I would call the County office and see if they can help with an appeal. Because that is what will need to be done an appeal. Maybe review Dads answers he sent to recovery.

When Mom went in, did Dad have their assets split by a lawyer? Moms half going to her her care and then applied for Medicaid? How did Dad answer questions on the recovery form? I hope a copy was kept.

An error has been made and you need to fight it.
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The correspondence is from HMS, isn’t it?

not the State but HMS, amirite?
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gladimhere Apr 2022
I wonder if this is a scam.
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I would first follow up with a phone call to be sure they received all the documents he sent. Might be a quick fix before hiring atty to get involved.

I would also think that the last letter he got (ignoring the fact he is alive) would have some sort of appeal process mentioned. You might want to contact any phone number involved in appeal as well.

I'm more inclined to believe it was an error.
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