Title: Medicaid HOME Improvement Act
Policy area: Health

Summary:
Medicaid Home Owner Maximum Equity Improvement Act or the Medicaid HOME Improvement Act
This bill amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to disallow a state from using, for purposes of determining Medicaid eligibility for long-term care assistance, a home equity limit that exceeds the statutory minimum.
Current law allows a state Medicaid program to set its maximum home equity limit at any amount between a specified range. The bill disallows a program from setting its limit above the amount that represents, under current law, the bottom of that range.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1082 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1082

 To amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to eliminate the State 
   option to reduce the home equity exemption amount for purposes of 
eligibility for long-term care assistance under Medicaid, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 15, 2017

Mr. Guthrie (for himself and Mr. Mullin) introduced the following bill; 
       which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to eliminate the State 
   option to reduce the home equity exemption amount for purposes of 
eligibility for long-term care assistance under Medicaid, and for other 
                               purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Medicaid Home Owner Maximum Equity 
Improvement Act'' or the ``Medicaid HOME Improvement Act''.

SEC. 2. ELIMINATING STATE OPTION TO REDUCE MEDICAID HOME EQUITY 
              EXEMPTION AMOUNT FOR PURPOSES OF DETERMINING ELIGIBILITY 
              FOR LONG-TERM CARE ASSISTANCE.

    (a) In General.--Section 1917(f)(1) of the Social Security Act (42 
U.S.C. 1396p(f)(1)) is amended--
            (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``subparagraphs (B) 
        and (C)'' and inserting ``subparagraph (B)'';
            (2) by striking subparagraph (B);
            (3) by redesignating subparagraph (C) as subparagraph (B); 
        and
            (4) in subparagraph (B), as so redesignated, by striking 
        ``dollar amounts specified in this paragraph'' and inserting 
        ``dollar amount specified in subparagraph (A)''.
    (b) Effective Date.--
            (1) In general.--The amendments made by subsection (a) 
        shall apply with respect to eligibility determinations made 
        after the date that is 180 days after the date of the enactment 
        of this section.
            (2) Exception for state legislation.--In the case of a 
        State plan under title XIX of the Social Security Act that the 
        Secretary of Health and Human Services determines requires 
        State legislation in order for the respective plan to meet any 
        requirement imposed by amendments made by this section, the 
        respective plan shall not be regarded as failing to comply with 
        the requirements of such title solely on the basis of its 
        failure to meet such an additional requirement before the first 
        day of the first calendar quarter beginning after the close of 
        the first regular session of the State legislature that begins 
        after the date of the enactment of this Act. For purposes of 
        the previous sentence, in the case of a State that has a 2-year 
        legislative session, each year of the session shall be 
        considered to be a separate regular session of the State 
        legislature.
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