Section 167:16-a Limitations on Recovery of Assistance. - New Hampshire Statutes

   I. Notwithstanding RSA 167:14 and any other provision of law to the contrary, no lien may be imposed by equitable or legal action undertaken by the state to evict, partition, or force sale of the property of any individual prior to death on account of medical assistance paid or to be paid on behalf of that individual at any time, except:
      (a) Pursuant to a court order or judgment on account of benefits incorrectly paid on behalf of such individual; or
      (b) In the case of the real property of an individual:
         (1) Who is an inpatient in a nursing facility, intermediate care facility, or other medical institution, and
         (2) With respect to whom it is determined by the department, after notice and an opportunity for a hearing, that the individual cannot reasonably be expected to be discharged from the facility or institution and to return home.
   II. No lien may be imposed under subparagraph I(b) on such individual's home if any of the following are currently residing in the home:
      (a) Such individual's spouse;
      (b) Such individual's child who is under age 21, or is blind or permanently and totally disabled as defined in section 1614 of the Social Security Act; or
      (c) Such individual's sibling who has an equity interest in such home and who was residing in such individual's home for a period of at least one year immediately before the date of the individual's admission to the medical institution.
   III. Any lien imposed with respect to subparagraph I(b) shall dissolve upon such individual's discharge from the medical institution and return home.
   IV. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, there shall be no adjustment or recovery of medical assistance correctly paid on behalf of such an individual, except from the estate of an individual who was 55 years of age or older when the individual received such assistance, and then only after the death of the surviving spouse, if any, and only at a time when:
      (a) The individual has no surviving child who is under 21 years of age or is blind or permanently and totally disabled.
      (b) In the case of a lien on an individual's home under subparagraph I(b):
         (1) There is no sibling of the individual who was residing in the individual's home for a period of at least one year immediately before the date of the individual's admission to the medical institution, nursing facility, or intermediate care facility and is lawfully residing in such home on a continuous basis since the date of the individual's admission to the medical institution, nursing facility, or intermediate care facility.
         (2) There is no son or daughter of the individual who was residing in the individual's home for a period of at least 2 years immediately before the date of the individual's admission to the medical institution, nursing facility, or intermediate care facility and who establishes to the satisfaction of the state that he or she provided care to such individual which permitted such individual to reside at home rather than in an institution and is lawfully residing in such home and has done so on a continuous basis since the date of the individual's admission to the medical institution, nursing facility, or intermediate care facility.
   V. All demands for adjustment or recovery under paragraph IV may be filed pursuant to the requirements in RSA 556:6.

Source. 1961, 271:6. 1967, 396:8. 1973, 72:9. 1979, 227:3. 1992, 30:3. 1994, 403:2. 1995, 310:41. 2000, 156:6, eff. Jan. 1, 2001. 2008, 52:8, 9, eff. July 11, 2008.