Medicaid Liens

This policy brief is one of five commissioned by the Dept of Health & Human Services, , and presents the fundamentals of Medicaid liens -- what they are, why they are permitted, and how they are applied by state Medicaid programs. Liens are a tool that states may use to ensure their right to recover past Medicaid spending on the property owner’s behalf when he or she, or certain close relatives, no longer needs the property.