WAC 182-527-2738 Estate recovery—General right to recover.

Effective March 14, 2016

For the purposes of this section, the term "agency" includes the agency's designee.

  1. When the agency may file. After a Washington apple health client has died, the medicaid agency may file liens to recover the cost of services subject to recovery that were correctly paid on the client's behalf.
  2. Notice requirement.
    1. Before the agency may file a lien under this section, it sends notice via first class mail as follows:
      1. If the estate has a personal representative, the agency sends notification to:
        1. The personal representative; and
        2. Any known title holder.
      2. If the estate has known heirs but no personal representative, the agency sends notification to:
        1. Any known heir; and
        2. Any known title holder.
      3. If the estate has no personal representative and no known heirs, the agency sends notification to:
        1. The address listed on the title; and
        2. Any known title holder.
    2. The notice states:
      1. The agency's intent to file a lien against the deceased client's property;
      2. The amount the agency seeks to recover;
      3. The deceased client's name, identification number, date of birth, and date of death;
      4. The county in which the property is located; and
      5. How to request an administrative hearing.
  3. The agency may not recover from the client's estate so long as there remains:
    1. A surviving spouse; or
    2. A surviving child who:
      1. Is age twenty or younger; or
      2. Is blind or disabled as defined in WAC 182-512-0050.
  4. Interest assessed on past-due debt.
    1. Interest on a past-due debt accrues at a rate of one percent per month under RCW 43.17.240.
    2. A lien under this section becomes a past-due debt when the agency has recorded the lien in the county where the property is located and nine months have passed since the lien was recorded or a creditor's claim was filed, whichever is sooner.
    3. The agency may waive interest if reasonable efforts to sell the property have failed.
  5. Administrative hearing. An administrative hearing under this section is governed by WAC 182-527-2753.
