{"id":12018,"date":"2020-07-07T09:22:45","date_gmt":"2020-07-07T14:22:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/legaltalktexas.hammerle.com\/?p=12018"},"modified":"2025-06-18T17:46:01","modified_gmt":"2025-06-18T22:46:01","slug":"beware-of-merp-in-texas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hammerle.com\/legaltalk\/legal-talk\/beware-of-merp-in-texas\/","title":{"rendered":"Beware the MERP – Texas offers Huge Loophole to Recovery Program"},"content":{"rendered":"

MERP is the Texas Medicaid Estate Recovery Program. Its sole purpose is to seize money from the estates of deceased Medicaid recipients and then plop the recovered funds back into the state\u2019s coffers. The government, acting through a contractor called Health Management Systems, Inc. (HMS), does this by filing a claim in probate<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Why is this a prudent financial maneuver by the government? Because although Medicaid is a needs-based program, not every Medicaid recipient is a pauper. The type of assets that a recipient can own and still be Medicaid -eligible \u2013 such as a homestead, an automobile, and a retirement account \u2013 can be valuable.<\/span><\/p>\n

MERP claims can involve a significant amount of money. Long- term care alone for a Medicaid recipient can easily run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Large government claim, finite probate assets \u2013 the result is that a successful MERP claim can end up wiping out the entire value of a probate estate. The government wins and the probate estate\u2019s distributees lose.<\/span><\/p>\n

Before you say that is only fair\u2013 you need to understand that MERP was forced upon Texas by the federal government. Medicaid is a federal-state program, and the feds require the states to meet certain conditions before it puts its money in the pot. One of those conditions is that the state have a recovery program for the money it pays out. In 2005, after years of resistance, Texas finally capitulated by putting in place the least onerous program it could muster and leaving a huge loophole.<\/span><\/p>\n

What Is The Medicaid Estate Recovery Program In Texas?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The Texas version of MERP plays as follows.<\/span><\/p>\n

A MERP claim is limited to Medicaid monies paid on your behalf after you reach the age of 55, and then only if your Medicaid application was filed on or after May 1, 2005.<\/span><\/p>\n

HMS can only recover a MERP claim after you die, and then only against the assets that go through your probate estate.<\/span><\/p>\n

The loophole?\u00a0 There is no recovery against assets that do not go through your probate estate.\u00a0 It only takes a bit of planning on your part to protect your assets.<\/span><\/p>\n

A few popular tactics:<\/span><\/p>\n