Alaska Medicaid Estate Recovery

Under Alaska Stat. 47.07.055, the estate of anyone who received medical assistance becomes subject to a recovery claim after death. For recipients who were 55 or older when services were provided, the statute specifically names medical-institution services and federally authorized home- and community-based waiver services among the categories the state can recover.

The same statute also allows for a pre-death lien in specific institutional circumstances: the person must be an inpatient, be required to contribute nearly all of their income toward care except for a minimal personal amount, and be determined — after notice and a hearing — not reasonably expected to return home. That lien authority operates separately from, and in addition to, the more familiar post-death claim against an estate.