Long-term care: Medicaid

1. Many people believe that because Medicaid was developed to serve low-income people, it is unethical for those who do not qualify to divest their assets to become eligible. On the other hand, some elder law attorneys counter that people can become legally entitled to benefits and should therefore be able to take advantage of these benefits. What is your stance on this controversial issue?

2. A related area is Medicaid Recovery. This allows the state to recover the money that they have invested in an individuals care by taking control of their assets such as their home after theyand where applicable their surviving spouse–have died. What is your view of Medicaid Recovery Programs?

3. To what extent does your state balance Medicaid (the state you signed up for) funded home and community-based services with institutional services?

4. Please review your states (the state you signed up for) performance on the LTSS Scorecard at:

http://www.longtermscorecard.org/
Assume you were asked to report to a legislative committee of your state on what the most important goals are going forward based on the scorecard.  What would you say in 2-3 minutes (be succinct)