It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

SECTION 1. Section 40-8-15 of the General Laws in Chapter 40-8 entitled "Medical Assistance" is hereby amended to read as follows:

{ADD 40-8-15. Lien on deceased recipient's estate for assistance. [Effective October 1, 1992.] -- ADD} (a) Upon the death of a recipient of medical assistance under title XIX of the federal Social Security Act [42 U.S.C. section 1396 et seq.], the total sum of medical assistance so paid on behalf of a recipient who was {DEL sixty-five (65) DEL} {ADD fifty-five (55) ADD} years of age or older at the time of receipt of the assistance shall be and constitute a lien upon the estate {ADD , as defined herein, ADD} of the recipient in favor of the department of human services. The lien shall not be effective and shall not attach as against the estate of a recipient who is survived by a spouse, or a child who is under the age of twenty-one (21), or a child who is blind or permanently and totally disabled as defined in title XVI of the federal Social Security Act [42 U.S.C. section 1381 et seq.]. {ADD The lien shall not be effective and shall not attach as against a recipient's estate which has been admitted for probate administration unless the department has filed a claim for reimbursement in probate court in accordance with section 33-11-5 or other applicable law. For purposes of this section, the term "estate" with respect to a deceased individual shall include all real and personal property and other assets included or includable within the individual's probate estate. ADD}

(b) The department is authorized to promulgate regulations to implement the terms, intent and purpose of this section and to require the legal representative(s) and/or the heirs-at-law of the decedent to provide reasonable written notice to the department of the death of a recipient of medical assistance who was {DEL sixty-five (65) DEL} {ADD fifty-five (55) ADD} years of age or older at the date of death, and to provide a statement identifying the decedent's property and the names and addresses of all persons entitled to take any share or interest of the estate as legatees or distributees thereof.

{DEL (c) The sum of the medical assistance shall be and remain a lien upon the property, whether or not the property is transferred, and upon all property acquired by the executor or administrator in substitution therefor while that property remains in his or her hands until the medical assistance is paid, but the lien shall not affect any tangible personal property or intangible personal property after it has passed to a bona fide purchaser for value. DEL}

{DEL (d) DEL} {ADD (c) ADD} The amount of medical assistance reimbursement imposed under this section shall also become a debt to the state of Rhode Island from the person or entity liable for the payment thereof.

{DEL (e) Every executor or administrator, shall have full power to sell, upon application to the probate court, so much of the property of the decedent as will enable him or her to make payment of reimbursement of medical assistance imposed by this section in the manner as he or she might be entitled by law to do for the payment of the debts of the testator or intestate. DEL}

{DEL (f) DEL} {ADD (d) ADD} Upon payment of the amount of reimbursement for medical assistance imposed by this section, the director of the department of human services, or his or her designee, shall issue a written discharge of lien.

{DEL (g) DEL} {ADD (e) ADD} Upon application to the director and a determination by the director that the lien is either inapplicable or that no reimbursement for medical assistance is due with respect to the estate, the director shall issue a written discharge of lien.

{ADD (f) ADD} Provided, however, that no lien created under this section shall attach nor become effective upon any real property unless and util a statement of claim is recorded naming the debtor/owner of record of the property as of the date and time of recording of the statement of claim, and describing the real property by a description containing all of the following: (a) tax assessor's plat and lot; and (b) street address. The statement of claim shall be recorded in the records of land evidence in the town or city where the real property is situated.

{ADD (g) The department of human services shall establish procedures, in accordance with the standards specified by the secretary, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, under which the department of human services shall waive, in whole or in part, the lien and reimbursement established by this section if such lien and reimbursement would work an undue hardship, as determined by the department, on the basis of the criteria established by the secretary in accordance with 42 U.S.C. 1396(b)(3). ADD}

SECTION 2. Section 40-6-9 of the General Laws in Chapter 40-6 entitled "Public Assistance Act" is hereby amended to read as follows:

{ADD 40-6-9. Assignment of child, spousal and medical support rights. -- ADD} (a) An applicant for or recipient of public assistance under this chapter or under title XIX of the federal Social Security Act [42 U.S.C. section 1396 et seq.], for and on behalf of himself or herself and for and on behalf of a child or children, shall be deemed, without the necessity of signing any document, to have made an assignment to the department of human services of any and all rights and interests in any cause of action, past, present, or future, that the applicant or recipient may have against any person failing to or obligated to provide for the support, maintenance, and medical care of the applicant, recipient, and/or minor child or children, for the period of time that assistance is being paid by the department; said department shall be subrogated to any and all rights, title, and interest the applicant or recipient may have against any and all property belonging to the obligated or nonsupporting person in the enforcement of any claim for child, spousal, and medical support, whether liquidated through court order or not. The applicant or recipient shall also be deemed, without the necessity of signing any document, to have appointed the department of human services as his or her true and lawful attorney in fact to act in his or her name, place, and stead to perform the specific act of instituting suit to establish paternity or secure support and medical care, collecting any and all amounts due and owing for child, spousal, and medical support, endorsing any and all drafts, checks, money orders, or other negotiable instruments representing support payments which are received by the department, and retaining any portion thereof permitted under federal and state statutes as reimbursement for financial and medical assistance previously paid to or for the recipient, child, or children.

(b) An applicant for or a recipient of medical assistance provided by the department pursuant to this chapter or chapter 40-8 of the general laws or title XIX of the federal Social Security Act [42 U.S.C. section 1396 et seq.], for and on behalf of himself or herself, and for and on behalf of any other person for whom he or she may legally assign rights to any medical support or any other medical care, shall be deemed, without the necessity of signing any document, to have made an assignment to the department of human services of any and all rights and interests that he, she, or such other person may have (1) to payment for any medical support and (2) to payment for any medical care from any third party.

(c) In addition to the assignments provided in subsection (a) and (b) of this section, an applicant for or a recipient of financial assistance provided by the department pursuant to this chapter, whenever the assistance is necessary by reason of accident, injury, or illness for which a third party may be liable, for and on behalf of himself or herself, and for and on behalf of any other person for whom he or she may legally act, shall be deemed, without the necessity of signing any document, to have assigned to the department of human services, from amounts recovered or recoverable from any third party, an amount of money equal to the amount of financial assistance provided as a result of the accident, illness, or injury.

(d) With respect to an assignment established pursuant to this section an applicant or recipient shall provide to the department of human services all relevant information regarding the rights assigned and shall execute any documents relating thereto, in accordance with rules and regulations to be adopted by the department.

{ADD (e) With respect to any assignment of rights for medical or financial support or recoveries under this section, the department of human services shall be considered to have acquired the rights of such individual to payment by any third party for such medical care and support, and financial support. ADD}

SECTION 3. This act shall take effect upon passage.