Page 14 THE EVERETT ADVOCATE – FRiDAy, SEpTEmbER 18, 2026 Beacon Hill Roll Call Volume 51 - Report No. 37 September 7-11, 2026 Masshealth Lien Of Home O ne fi nancial mistake a single person might make is to sell his or her home in order to pay for nursing home care, without at least giving serious consideration to another option. If this single person’s spouse had previously died and the home therefore (although not a countable asset) would now be lienable by MassHealth, selling the home might not be the best solution if the goal is to protect the hard-earned equity in the home for the benefi t of the couple’s children. The lien placed on the home by MassHealth just might not be the worst thing. Remember, if both spouses are alive, and only one spouse goes into the nursing home, MassHealth cannot place a lien on the home as long the non-institutionalized spouse is still living in the home. Since the private pay rate for skilled nursing home care is approximately $15,000 per month, simply selling the home to private pay would mean that the nursing home will be paid approximately $180,000 for each year of nursing home stay. Assuming $2,500 per month in social security income is being paid to the nursing home, the cash assets expended per month from the proceeds from the sale of the house would amount to $12,500). If, on the other hand, the home is not sold but is rented instead to cover the monthly expenses, MassHealth can be applied for and if the individual satisfies the clinical eligibility test and has countable assets of $2,000 or less, approval can be obtained. The nursing home will then be entitled to the Medicaid monthly rate of approxBy Bob Katzen THE HOUSE AND SENimately $7,500. The $2,500 per month in social security income going to the nursing home will reduce the $7,500 payment MassHealth would normally pay to the nursing home to $5,000. Consequently, the MassHealth lien will only build up at the rate of $5,000 per month, or $60,000 per year. Three years later the lien would amount to $180,000. If the home’s fair market value at the time of institutionalization was $750,000, and the home appreciated 5% per year over that three-year period, the home’s fair market value at the end of the three-year period would be $868,219, for a $118,219 increase in value. That helps to offset significantly the $180,000 MassHealth lien. A much better result for preserving the home for the children. Furthermore, if the home is sold during the life of the individual going into a nursing home, a capital gains tax might be due, particularly if the house is a two family wherein 50% is considered investment property. If the home is sold after the nursing home resident’s death, there would be a step-up in cost basis equal to the fair market value at the time of death with either no or little capital gains tax due on a subsequent sale. Joseph D. Cataldo is an estate planning/elder law attorney, Certifi ed Public Accountant, Certifi ed Financial Planner, AICPA Personal Financial Specialist and holds a masters degree in taxation. ATE: There were no roll calls in the House or Senate last week. This week, Beacon Hill Roll Call reports on the percentage of times local representatives voted with their party’s leadership in the 2026 session through Sept. 11. Beacon Hill Roll Call uses 125 votes from the 2026 House session as the basis for this report. This includes all roll calls that were not votes on local issues. The votes of the 130 Democrats were compared to the votes of Democratic Speaker Ron Mariano (D-Quincy). Mariano missed eight roll call votes so on those eight roll calls, we used the vote of Mariano’s Majority Leader Rep. Mike Moran (D-Brighton). The votes of the 24 Republicans were compared to the votes of House Republican Minority Leader Brad Jones (R-North Reading). On the 125 roll calls, Mariano and Jones voted the same way on 75 roll calls (60 percent) and voted the opposite way from each other on 50 roll calls (40 percent.) THE DEMOCRATS: A total of 100 (76.9 percent) of the 130 Democrats voted with Mariano 100 percent of the time. There were only 30 Democratic representatives who voted diff erently than Mariano on any roll calls. And 14 of those only voted diff erently from Mariano just one time. The Democratic representative who voted the least percentage of time with Mariano was Rep. Colleen Garry (D-Dracut) who voted with Mariano only 86 percent of the time. Garry did not respond to repeated requests by Beacon Hill Roll Call asking her to comment on this. The other four Democrats who voted the opposite of Mariano the most times are Reps. Alan Silvia (D-Fall River) who voted with Mariano 93.1 percent of the time; David Robertson (D-Tewksbury) who voted with Mariano 94.4 percent of the time; Erika Uyterhoeven (D-Somerville) who voted with Mariano 95.1 percent of the time; and Mike Connolly (D-Cambridge) who voted with Mariano 95.2 percent of the time. Beacon Hill Roll Call asked those four representatives why they voted so many times the opposite of Mariano, while 100 of their colleagues voted with Mariano 100 percent of the time. Only Rep. Silvia responded. Reps. Robertson, Uyterhoeven and Connolly did not respond. Rep. Silvia responded: A spokesperson from Silvia’s offi ce told Beacon Hill Roll Call, “Rep. Silvia does not vote against the speaker simply for the sake of opposition. Every vote is considered on its merits and through the lens of what best serves the residents of the 7th Bristol District. When those priorities align with House leadership, he is pleased to support them. When they do not, he has the independence to vote according to his conscience and the needs of the people he was elected to represent.” Beacon Hill Roll Call also asked all 100 representatives who voted with Mariano 100 percent of the time to explain why they did so. Only two responded. Rep. Alice Peisch (D-Wellesley), Speaker Mariano’s Assistant Majority Leader, said, “Of course, I vote with the speaker 100 percent of the time, as do most Democrats, because his position refl ects my views and the views of the majority of the caucus.” Rep. Ken Gordon (D-Bedford) said, “You’ve got the question backwards. Speaker Mariano votes with the members. What you see on the fl oor is a result of what the members collectively prioritize. And through the committee process we communicate how best to present the issues.” The other 98 representatives who voted with Mariano 100 percent of the time did not respond to Beacon Hill Roll Call. They are: Reps. James Arciero (D-Westford), James Arena-DeRosa (D-Holliston), Shirley Arriaga (D-Chicopee), Bruce Ayers (D-Quincy), Jennifer Balinsky Armini (D-Marblehead), John Barrett (D-North Adams), David Biele (D-South Boston), Hannah Bowen (D-Beverly), Antonio Cabral (D-New Bedford), Daniel Cahill (D-Lynn), Simon Cataldo (D-Concord), Tackey Chan (D-Quincy), Michelle Ciccolo (D-Lexington), Rob Consalvo (D-Hyde Park), Mark Cusack (D-Braintree), Leigh Davis (D-Great Barrington), Michael Day (D-Stoneham), Kip Diggs (D-Barnstable), Mindy Domb (D-Amherst), Kate Donaghue (D-Westborough), Daniel Donahue (D-Worcester), Paul Donato (D-Medford), Michelle DuBois (D-Brockton), Patricia Duff y (D-Holyoke), Tricia Farley-Bouvier (D-Pittsfield), Carole Fiola (D-Fall River), Christopher Flanagan (D-Dennis), Brandy Fluker-Reid (D-Mattapan), William Galvin (D-Canton), Sean Garballey (D-Arlington), Judith Garcia (D-Chelsea), Jessica Giannino (D-Revere), Carlos Gonzalez (D-Springfi eld), Danielle Gregoire (D-Marlborough), Richard Haggerty (D-Woburn), Ryan Hamilton (D-Methuen), Christopher Hendricks (D-New Bedford), Kate Hogan (D-Stow), Kevin Honan (D-Boston), Tara Hong (D-Lowell), Daniel Hunt (D-Dorchester), Kristin Kassner (D-Hamilton), Patrick Kearney (D-Scituate), Mary Keefe (D-Worcester), Sally Kerans (D-Danvers), Meghan Kilcoyne (D-Clinton), Michael Kushmerek BEACON | SEE PAGE 15
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