§ 167:13 — Recovery for Assistance Furnished

I. Except as provided in paragraph II, if at any time during the continuance of assistance, the recipient or the husband or wife of the recipient becomes possessed of any property or income in excess of the amount stated in the application, it shall be the duty of the recipient within 10 calendar days to notify the commissioner of the department of health and human services of the receipt or possession of such property or income. On the death of a recipient of old age assistance, aid to the needy blind, medicaid for employed adults with disabilities, or aid to the permanently and totally disabled, the total amount of assistance paid under this chapter or RSA 161 shall be allowed as a claim against the estate of such person after payment of the charges in the priority set forth in RSA 554:19. No lien filed in accordance with RSA 167:14 shall be extended to enforce recovery nor shall any sale be forced against the real estate of a recipient of old age assistance, aid to the needy blind, medicaid for employed adults with disabilities, or aid to the permanently and totally disabled while it is occupied as a home by a surviving spouse. The federal government shall be entitled, as long as required as a condition to federal financial participation, to such proportion of the net amount collected from the estate of a recipient of old age assistance, aid to the needy blind, medicaid for employed adults with disabilities, or aid to the permanently and totally disabled as the federal participation bears to the total amount of assistance granted said recipient.
II. Notwithstanding paragraph I, for medical assistance, no resources of the community spouse shall be deemed available to the institutionalized spouse during the continuous period in which an institutionalized spouse is in an institution, and after the month in which an institutionalized spouse is determined to be eligible for medical assistance benefits.
III. The department may waive adjustment or recovery in cases in which:
(a) It is not cost-effective to recover from an individual's estate; or
(b) Recovery would result in an undue hardship as determined in accordance with rules adopted pursuant to RSA 541-A.
IV. There is established in the state treasury an estate administration fund for use as a depository account by the department of health and human services for the purpose of estate administration conducted pursuant to RSA 553:2, III. The fund shall be used to receive and temporarily hold estate funds subject to supervision of the probate court until funds are disbursed, in accordance with RSA 554:19, to creditors, including the state, for public assistance provided under this chapter.

Legislative History

1937, 202:19. RL 126:19. 1947, 44:1. 1949, 100:1. 1951, 90:6. RSA 167:13. 1979, 227:2. 1983, 291:1, II. 1995, 310:182. 1998, 5:2. 2000, 156:3. 2005, 175:6. 2007, 263:55, eff. July 1, 2007.