Are Parents the Beneficiaries of MA Benefits for Minor's Medical Expenses ?

In Bowmaster v. Clair, 2007 PA Super 245, 933 A.2d 86 (Pa. Super. 2007), the Superior Court concluded that since parents bear financial responsibility for a minor's medical expenses, it was the parents, and not the minor, who were beneficiaries of medical assistance (MA) benefits paid by the Department for the minor's medical expenses. Bowmaster, 933 A.2d at 90-91. Since the parents' claims were barred because the parents failed to bring them within the applicable statute of limitations, the Superior Court concluded that the Department was necessarily precluded from recovering for the MA benefits paid during the child's minority. Id. at 91.