# North Carolina — Medicaid Estate Recovery Rules by State

For North Carolina, undue hardship waiver is rules to waive whole or partial recovery when this recovery would be inequitable because it would work an undue hardship or because it would not be administratively cost-effective; citation is G.S. 108A-70.5, recorded from its source on 2026-08-31.

- **State:** North Carolina _(our reading, not quoted from the source)_
- **What counts as the estate:** Estate. - All the real and personal property considered assets of the estate available for the discharge of debt pursuant to G.S. 28A-15-1. The Department has all rights available to estate creditors, including the right to qualify as personal representative or collector of an estate. For individuals who have received benefits under a qualified long-term care partnership policy as described in G.S. 108A-70.4, this term also includes any other real and personal property and other assets in which the individual had any legal title or interest at the time of death (to the extent of the interest), including assets conveyed to a survivor, heir, or assign of the deceased individual through joint tenancy, tenancy in common, survivorship, life estate, living trust, or other arrangement. _(verified: appears in its own passage below)_
- **Undue hardship waiver:** rules to waive whole or partial recovery when this recovery would be inequitable because it would work an undue hardship or because it would not be administratively cost-effective _(verified: appears in its own passage below)_
- **Citation:** G.S. 108A-70.5 _(our reading, not quoted from the source)_

## What the source says

> (a) There is established in the Department of Health and Human Services, the Medicaid Estate Recovery Plan, as required by the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993, to recover from the estates of recipients of medical assistance an equitable amount of the State and federal shares of the cost paid for the recipient. The Department shall administer the program in accordance with applicable federal law and regulations, including those under Title XIX of the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. § 1396(p).

## Where each value comes from

This source states these in separate places, so each value is shown with the passage that states it.

### What counts as the estate

> (2) Estate. - All the real and personal property considered assets of the estate available for the discharge of debt pursuant to G.S. 28A-15-1. The Department has all rights available to estate creditors, including the right to qualify as personal representative or collector of an estate. For individuals who have received benefits under a qualified long-term care partnership policy as described in G.S. 108A-70.4, this term also includes any other real and personal property and other assets in which the individual had any legal title or interest at the time of death (to the extent of the interest), including assets conveyed to a survivor, heir, or assign of the deceased individual through joint tenancy, tenancy in common, survivorship, life estate, living trust, or other arrangement.

### Undue hardship waiver

> (d) The Department of Health and Human Services shall adopt rules pursuant to Chapter 150B of the General Statutes to implement the Plan, including rules to waive whole or partial recovery when this recovery would be inequitable because it would work an undue hardship or because it would not be administratively cost-effective and rules to ensure that all recipients are notified that their estates are subject to recovery at the time they become eligible to receive medical assistance.

## Source

- https://www.ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/BySection/Chapter_108A/GS_108A-70.5.html

Last verified: 2026-08-31. Review by: 2027-08-31.
Part of [Medicaid Estate Recovery Rules by State](https://referencesource.org/medicaid-estate-recovery-rules-by-state/).