Medicaid

[FoxieRoxie]

Hi. Does anyone know if a person is supposed to report a winning lawsuit to Medicaid and will they take benefits away for any amount of time or even money, which makes no sense to me? Thanks.

[twix123]

As Medicaid is American and this is predominately a UK site, I doubt that you will get a correct answer here.

[Buenchico]

As Twix123 indicates, this site is UK-based, so there are very few people with knowledge of US matters around here.

You might be more likely to get a meaningful answer by posting on one of these US-based sites:
http://answers.yahoo.com/

http://www.answerbag.com/

http://askville.amazon.com/Index.do

http://aolanswers.com/

Alternatively, your answer might be somewhere on this site:
http://www.cms.gov/home/medicaid.asp

Chris

[tyke1]

So far as UK is concerned Yes!
If you have received benefits because eg you have been sick/injured and could not earn a living pending the resolution of a claim and the lawsuit meets those lost earnings then you may have to refund some of the benefits (paid for by taxpayers like me) which the state 'lent' you while the case was pending. It may ultimately affect your future benefits if you have a very large payout from an insurance co. to cover future loss of earnings. The insurance payout comes from the premiums paid by other insured people (me again) who have not had to make a claim or who were not responsible for your injury. Why should I pay your living costs twice over? Both the benefits system and the insurance system are ways in which society provides for people in adversity. If there has been a satisfactory outcome then one of me (the taxpayer or the premium payer) should get some relief!

[wishy123]

In the UK there is a system whereby all Injury claims are reported to the DSS and at the conclusion of the case a payment is made by the insurer of the at fault party towards NHS charges, or state benefits received by the claimant as a result of the injury, or both. Sometimes the sum is deducted from the damages payment, but sometimes there is no head of claim against which the benefits can be offset, and in the case of NHS charges it is always paid in addition to damages. Unfortunately the result is that the cost is reflected in insurance premiums, so Joe Public ends up footing the bill either way!