Dear Advocate, Is there anything I can do to prevent a Medi-Cal recovery claim?

Dear Advocate,

My mother owns a mobile home and is on Medi-Cal. The mobile home park is a senior-only community that requires that the owner of the home be age 55 or older. So, we need to keep my mother’s name on the title to meet the park’s requirements. Is there anything I can do to prevent a Medi-Cal recovery claim?

Sincerely,

Desperate in Downey

Dear Desperate in Downey,

Based on California’s new Medi-Cal recovery law, which applies to individuals who pass away on or after January 1, 2017, mobile homes and manufactured homes will now be excluded from estate recovery claims, because they are not subject to probate in California (Probate Code Section 13050(b)(3)). So your mother doesn’t have to do anything to avoid recovery on the mobile home – it’s exempt under the law.

Also, based on the new law, the state can only recover if your mother received nursing home care or “home and community based services” such as the Assisted living Waiver, Multipurpose Senior Services Program, Nursing Facility Waiver or In Home Operations Waiver. To learn more about how the new Medi-Cal recovery law will affect you, review CANHR’s consumer guide: www.canhr.org/publications/PDFs/Medi-Cal_Recovery.pdf