The Recovery Unit is responsible for pursuing the collection of monies owed by current and former Westchester County DSS clients and/or responsible third parties who received cash assistance or Medicaid. These include spouses of Medicaid recipients who reside in a nursing home, persons who receive temporary assistance and persons who are found to have received Medicaid incorrectly due to excess income or resources.
The recovery unit is responsible for the recovery of funds expended by the department on behalf of clients, such as: estates, trusts/guardianships, personal injury, real estate, spousal refusal, Temporary Assistance and SNAP Overpayments, Vendor Overpayments.
Other responsibilities include:

  • Responding to billing inquiries
  • Researching and documenting claims
  • Monitoring and tracking the receipt of funds related to these claims
  • Taking action to pursue the collection of unpaid balances

Real Property Liens
The Recovery Unit places liens on real estate, including homesteads within the Westchester County owned by Cash Assistance and Nursing Home Medicaid applicants. The liens are repaid at the time the property is sold or refinanced. Title companies, law firms and homeowners can contact the Recovery unit to request a payoff amount.

Contact:
By phone: (914)-995-5617
Fax: (914) 995-8388
By email:

Please mail the correspondence and payments to:

Westchester County DSS 
Financial Administration, Recovery Unit
112 East Post Road, 6th Floor
White Plains, NY 10601

Please make checks payable to the "Westchester County DSS" Please include the Client Identification Number (CIN) or the case number on the check and any accompanying documents.

Estate Recovery and Casualty Recovery
The Westchester County Department of Social Services (DSS) works with the State Agency-Health Management System (HMS) to assert liens and claims against the estate of deceased recipients' assets and/or personal injury action settlements for the recovery of benefits expended for Public Assistance and Medicaid pursuant to NYS SSL 104 and 366, 369 et al.

At the time of a lawsuit settlement or estate proceeding, law firms and insurance companies must contact the HMS to obtain a final Medicaid lien or claim amount as follows:
By phone: (877) -331-1460
By email:

For the Temporary Assistance Lien amount for personal injury or estate case, please contact the Recovery Unit by email: .