Mississippi Code 1972 (2023) › Title 43 - PUBLIC WELFARE (§§ 43-1-1 — 43-NEW01-012) › Chapter 13 - MEDICAL ASSISTANCE FOR THE AGED; MEDICAID (§§ 43-13-1 — 43-13-607) › Article 3 - MEDICAID (§§ 43-13-101 — 43-13-149) › Section 43-13-120 - Division of Medicaid deemed beneficiary of certain recipients who die intestate and without heirs

(1)
Any person who is a Medicaid recipient and is receiving medical assistance for services provided in a long-term care facility under the provisions of Section
43-13-117
from the Division of Medicaid in the Office of the Governor, who dies intestate and leaves no known heirs, shall have deemed, through his acceptance of such medical assistance, the Division of Medicaid as his beneficiary to all such funds in an amount not to exceed Two Hundred Fifty Dollars ($250.00) which are in his possession at the time of his death. Such funds, together with any accrued interest thereon, shall be reported by the long-term care facility to the State Treasurer in the manner provided in subsection (2).
(2)
The report of such funds shall be verified, shall be on a form prescribed or approved by the Treasurer, and shall include (a) the name of the deceased person and his last known address prior to entering the long-term care facility; (b) the name and last known address of each person who may possess an interest in such funds; and (c) any other information which the Treasurer prescribes by regulation as necessary for the administration of this section. The report shall be filed with the Treasurer prior to November 1 of each year in which the long-term care facility has provided services to a person or persons having funds to which this section applies.
(3)
Within one hundred twenty (120) days from November 1 of each year in which a report is made pursuant to subsection (2), the Treasurer shall cause notice to be published in a newspaper having general circulation in the county of this state in which is located the last known address of the person or persons named in the report who may possess an interest in such funds, or if no such person is named in the report, in the county in which is located the last known address of the deceased person prior to entering the long-term care facility. If no address is given in the report or if the address is outside of this state, the notice shall be published in a newspaper having general circulation in the county in which the facility is located. The notice shall contain (a) the name of the deceased person; (b) his last known address prior to entering the facility; (c) the name and last known address of each person named in the report who may possess an interest in such funds; and (d) a statement that any person possessing an interest in such funds must make a claim therefor to the Treasurer within ninety (90) days after such publication date or the funds will become the property of the State of Mississippi. In any year in which the Treasurer publishes a notice of abandoned property under Section
89-12-27
, the Treasurer may combine the notice required by this section with the notice of abandoned property. The cost to the Treasurer of publishing the notice required by this section shall be paid by the Division of Medicaid.
(4)
Each long-term care facility that makes a report of funds of a deceased person under this section shall pay over and deliver such funds, together with any accrued interest thereon, to the Treasurer not later than ten (10) days after notice of such funds has been published by the Treasurer as provided in subsection (3). If a claim to such funds is not made by any person having an interest therein within ninety (90) days of the published notice, the Treasurer shall place such funds in the special account in the State Treasury to the credit of the "Governor's Office - Division of Medicaid" to be expended by the Division of Medicaid for the purposes provided under Mississippi Medicaid Law.
(5)
This section shall not be applicable to any Medicaid patient in a long-term care facility of a state institution listed in Section
41-7-73
, who has a personal deposit fund as provided for in Section
41-7-90
.
Laws, 1985, ch. 403, § 1; Laws, 1986, ch. 437, § 4, eff. 7/1/1986.