What About That Undisclosed Bank Account?

Historically the HHSC has not been overly aggressive in investigating applications for Texas nursing home Medicaid benefits.  If a bank account or other financial asset was not revealed on the application they would rely on their rights to pursue restitution from the applicant for any benefits paid as a result of fraud. The tide is slowly turning as the TIERS system gets ramped up over at the HHSC and the focus shifts to making sure applicants that are not really eligible for Texas Medicaid are not approved for Medicaid benefits.

The HHSC is refining its asset verification system as part of reviewing applications for Texas nursing home Medicaid benefits. This new system checks certain banks in the area that the Medicaid applicant resides in to verify any closed or other accounts that were not identified on the application.  It won’t stop there though. As part of the verification process they will have the ability and authority to review the account history of closed accounts for the duration of the five year lookback period.

You do not want to file a Medicaid application and have the HHSC knowing more about your loved one’s financial history than you do. That is a quick way to end up with a surprise Medicaid penalty and a nursing home bill for several or possibly tens of thousands of dollars that go with it. If you would like to do it right the first time with an experienced Woodlands Medicaid Attorney then give me a call at (832) 592-7913 and we can discuss your case.