Obamacare Fine Print: Beware the Medicaid and Medi-Cal Clawbacks and Liens

Obamacare greatly expanded Medicaid coverage, but there is a hidden gotcha that may come back and haunt your heirs for benefits you receive from age 55-64.
This is not new news, but few read and understand the “fine print”.
In a warning about the “fine print” and in response to Moral Dilemma: Should a Libertarian Who Does Not Need Food Stamps, but Qualifies for Them, Take Them? reader “TL” writes …
Hello Mish,
Your friend Steven may want to carefully research taking Medi-Cal benefits.
Medi-Cal, and many other state Medicaid programs include a ‘claw-back’ provision for recovery of costs incurred by the state to provide medical care. While there is much variation in particulars from one state to another, the bottom line is these costs include a monthly ‘administrative fee’
The ‘claw-back’ mechanism functions via the state placing ‘liens’ on individual assets at the point the Medicaid recipient reaches age 55, then recovers the money at the point the Medicaid recipient dies by ‘seizing’ the money from the estate.

This post was published at Global Economic Analysis on Saturday, August 30, 2014.