Massachusetts Suit Challenges State Seizures of Medicaid Beneficiaries’ Estates

A class action lawsuit filed on Feb. 21 in federal court aims to prohibit Massachusetts' Division of Medical Assistance from recovering the estates of Medicaid beneficiaries who have died from smoking-related illnesses, the Boston Globe reports. All states are legally permitted to collect money from the estate of Medicaid beneficiaries who died of smoking-related illnesses, but Massachusetts "seizes assets more aggressively than most states," Louis Massery, one of the attorneys who filed the suit on behalf of the estate of Mary Watkins, said. Massachusetts's law allows the state to sue the estate of a deceased Medicaid beneficiary for care reimbursement within one year of the patient's death. Under the Estate Recovery Program, the Division of Medical Assistance collects about $20 million per year, about $3 million of which comes from estates of individuals who died as a result of smoking. The lawsuit, the first of its kind in the nation, alleges that the Division of Medical Assistance is "double-dipping" by seizing the property of Medicaid beneficiaries who have died from tobacco-related causes, because the state already received $7.6 billion from the national tobacco settlement to cover the costs of care for these individuals. Massery maintains that after tobacco companies began reimbursing states for the costs of care for smoking-related illnesses, it became illegal for states to continue collecting revenue from the estates of people who died from smoking-related illnesses. "It's very clear under common law that you can't collect for the same damages twice," he said. An state attorney general spokesperson had no comment on the case (Burge, Boston Globe, 2/22).