Validity of debt thrown into question in Medicaid transfer-of-assets case

The central question of this case was whether a $60,000 transfer that a Nursing Home Medicaid recipient allegedly made to her daughter as payment toward a debt was exempt from the transfer-of-assets penalty. The Court ultimately sided with the Department of Family and Children Services (DFCS) and affirmed the penalty.  The Court could not conclude that the $60,000 in alleged rent repayment constituted a valid debt because the validity of the lease itself was “dubious.”  The Court also affirmed the denial of the Medicaid recipient’s undue-hardship waiver because there was no proof the recipient took action to recover her transferred assets.