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Don't tell me you're tired of me talking about Medicaid estate recovery...New paper out about estate recovery in North Carolina using public records data alongside demographic characteristics in a first of its kind paper.

onlinelibrary.wiley.com<em>Health Services Research</em> | AcademyHealth & HRET Journal | Wiley Online LibraryObjective To estimate the prevalence of Medicaid estate recovery in North Carolina. Study Setting and Design We descriptively analyzed the number of estates, amount recovered, and hardship waiver .....

Mandi Spishak-Thomas

@aspishakthomas.com

We found approximately $83 billion was recovered from beneficiaries between 2017 and 2021, or 0.6% of the total cost of North Carolina's annual Medicaid program. We found that Black homeowners were more likely to have lower value estates recovered, and more money was recovered from white estates.

16/6/26, 2:39 pm0 reposts0 likes

Mandi Spishak-Thomas

@aspishakthomas.com

16 June

However, the value of homes owned by Black families is substantially less than white ones ($27,000 vs $73,000), explaining in part why more money was recovered from white homeowners. Considering differences in lifetime wealth accumulation, the impacts may be felt more deeply by Black families.

Mandi Spishak-Thomas

@aspishakthomas.com

16 June

Policymakers should opt for strategies outside of Medicaid that can more precisely target high-net-worth individuals through mechanisms like tax increases on high income earners and large inheritances instead of policies like estate recovery that disproportionately impact low-income families.