Ketchum Estate v. Department of Health and Human Services

This case involves the estate of Wilma Francis Ketchum’s attempt to preclude the state Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) 1 from recovering from the estate certain amounts that it paid to the decedent, Wilma Ketchum, for Medicaid long-term care benefits during her lifetime. After defendant DHHS initially denied plaintiff estate’s request for a hardship waiver, plaintiff requested an administrative hearing that resulted in a proposal for a decision recommending the denial be upheld, which the DHHS’s director ultimately followed. Plaintiff then filed an appeal in the circuit court,…