NAELA, along with Justice and Aging and other advocacy organizations, has published an issue brief on the Medicaid estate recovery program. The brief calls on Congress to eliminate the Medicaid estate recovery program and focuses on how estate recovery contributes to the cycle of poverty. In particular, the brief examines how home ownership allows for generational wealth building for lower-income families. The brief was a collaboration between NAELA, Justice in Aging, California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform (CANHR), National Health Law Program (NHeLP), and Western Center on Law & Poverty.
The brief also includes recommendations from the Medicaid and Chip Payment and Access Commission (MACPAC), a non-partisan legislative agency, to 1) make estate recovery optional for state Medicaid programs; 2) allow state managed care arrangements to pursue estate recovery based on cost of care instead of capitated payment amounts and; 3) set minimum standards for hardship waivers across states. NAELA had provided stakeholder input to the Medicaid and Chip Payment and Access Commission (MACPAC) through interviews with NAELA members and a sign-on letter prior to its recommendations.