Don't let the Government take your home!

Welcome to Caregivers Against HB 1351 -- the front line of defense against the government taking your home, farm, life insurance policy, or other assets.

If you have a family member on Medical Assistance or Medicaid, read on.  Rep. Dwight Evans and Gov. Ed Rendell want to change the law so that the government can seize your family assets to pay for health costs when family members die.

This is a huge step away from the current law, which in most cases protects homes, farms, and trusts.

HB 1351 -- What It Does

You can read the section of the bill that pertains to Medical Assistance here.  What it says (in a Pennsylvania nutshell) is that when a person dies, if they were on any kind of medical assistance over the age of 55, the Commonwealth gets to come after their assets -- their homes, money in trusts, and life insurance policies.  Family members will come second. The arbiter of "who gets what" will be the Department of Public Welfare (DPW).

There will be no appeal from their judgments -- no court appeal, no appeal to a different agency or to a disinterested third party, nothing.  Just DPW, acting as judge and jury.

What You Could Lose

If you have a spouse or parent who receives Medical Assistance with long term care, you could lose a house, the family farm, securities in trust, life insurance, bank accounts, and other assets. Even assets you might have thought were protected.

What You Can Do

1. Contact your legislator (you can find them here)
2. Tell everyone you know, and have them contact their legislators, too.