MassHealth describes estate recovery in fairly plain terms: it's the process the agency uses to seek reimbursement, from the estates of certain deceased members, for the long-term care it already paid for. Its published overview defines the estate broadly as all the real and personal property or other assets sitting in the member's probate estate, and recovery claims get filed in probate court.
The scope of what counts as recoverable shifted for deaths occurring on or after August 1, 2024. For members age 55 or older, MassHealth now identifies nursing-facility services, home- and community-based services, and the related hospital and prescription-drug care as recoverable long-term services and supports — and separately, it can recover the cost of long-term institutional care received at any age, all subject to the governing statute and regulations.
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