Gov. Jerry Brown (D) could make California one of the first states in the nation that would preemptively block collections from the estates of deceased patients who receive ordinary Medicaid benefits, Kaiser Health News reported. California collects about $30 million a year from the estates of patients who collected regular healthcare benefits from Medi-Cal, the state's Medicaid program. It is one of 10 states that actively engage in such collection activities (federal law mandates such recoupments for nursing home care or other institutional services), and it is causing some residents to reconsider enrolling in Medi-Cal. Brown has not signaled whether he intends to sign the bill, although California's finance department has objected to barring such collections, noting the money is put back into the Medi-Cal program and used for patient care. Article