Neva Holt stood in a kitchen for years whipping up coconut cake and patting out hamburger steaks – food she sold from her Lyles, Tenn., cafe that generated sales tax revenue for the state – but when she got old and needed nursing home care, Tennessee didn’t give anything back.

She got kicked out of a nursing home because TennCare wouldn’t pay. The state’s Medicaid agency determined she didn’t qualify for coverage, contending she had owned land that she transferred to her grandchildren – assets that should have been used to cover the cost of a nursing home.

The family appealed and ultimately had TennCare’s determination overturned last month. It was a hollow victory. Holt died at age 88 – six days before the decision came down.

This grandmother from Hickman County, who had been widowed in her 40s, was not a stakeholder in the family land, an assistant commissioner for the Tennessee Department of Human Services ruled.

The family tried for months to resolve the issue until the Jan. 7 ruling.

Ronnie Holt said his grandmother would probably have lived longer and gotten better care in a nursing home. The best the family could do was arrange for her to live with a disabled caretaker.  READ MORE HERE