Recovery scope
New York recovers from the probate estate—property passing by will or intestacy—for covered assistance furnished to permanently institutionalized recipients and recipients age 55 or older. For MAGI recipients age 55 or older, recovery is limited to nursing-facility services, home- and community-based services, and related hospital and prescription-drug services.
Controlling authority
New York Social Services Law § 369 governs Medicaid liens, estate recovery, exemptions, hardship waivers, and the probate-estate definition.
Exemptions and deferrals
Recovery is deferred until after the surviving spouse's death and while a surviving child is under 21, blind, or permanently and totally disabled. A home lien is also barred while a qualifying sibling with an equity interest or qualifying caregiver child remains in the home under the statute's residency rules.
Hardship-waiver path
Section 369(5) requires waiver of recovery when it would create undue hardship under Department regulations and federal criteria.
Lien practice
Before death, New York permits a lien only for incorrectly paid benefits under a court judgment or against real property of a permanently institutionalized person not reasonably expected to return home; the lien dissolves if the person returns home and is barred while protected relatives reside there.
Sources
Methodology & sources
Checked at least annually and whenever recovery statutes, waivers, liens, or agency practices change.
General information, not legal advice.