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Resolution
CALLING UPON U.S. CONGRESS TO RESCIND TITLE 42,
UNITED STATES CODE, SECTION 1396P FEDERAL ESTATE
RECOVERY Title 42, United
States Code, Section 1396p requires states to
seize the assets from the estates of the
deceased Medicaid recipients to take back money
the state spent on services the patient received
after turning 55 years of age. This includes
nursing facility services, home and
community-based services, and related hospital
and prescription drug services. The federal law
also allows for the states to seize assets to
recover other costs. The Omnibus Reconciliation
Act of 1993 (OBRA 93) made asset seizure
mandatory instead of optional for all states.
According to a recent U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services study,
the governments in the U.S. seized assets valued
at approximately $362 million in 2006.
The federal law, Title 42,
Section 1396p, contradicts the intent of the
1965 federal law that created Medicaid. When
President Lyndon Baines Johnson signed Title 20
of the Social Security Act, he stated that it
would guarantee medical care to every American,
regardless of size pursue.
WHEREAS, threat of seizure of
assets is a disincentive for people to sign up
for Medicaid, forcing them to forego medical
care in an attempt to hold onto the precious
little they worked their whole lives to attain;
and
WHEREAS, nationwide there are
approximately 42.6 million Hispanics, about 14%
of the total population, and the U.S. Census
Bureau reported in 2004 that 24.6% of Hispanics,
compared with 13.4% of Caucasians, work in
low-paid service jobs; and
WHEREAS, of all other ethnic
groups in the country Hispanics have the highest
proportion of those without any health coverage,
and according to the National Center for Health
Statistics, about 30% of Hispanic adults are
without coverage, and Hispanics are two times
more likely to be diagnosed with diabetes, and
that this puts all low-income Medicaid
recipients, and particularly Hispanic Medicaid
recipients at risk to lose their property; and
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED,
that the League of United Latin American
Citizens calls upon the United States Congress
to rescind Title 42, United States Code, Section
1396p, the Estate Recovery Act.
Approved this 14th day of July
2007.
Rosa Rosales
LULAC National President |
