Affordable Care Act

A new “5-year rule†in California allows the government to recover their costs for social services received by you.

Question:

Are the insurance subsidies under the ACA to be considered as a social service received?  Presumably so, but I am not sure.

Under the new rule the government can demand to be paid back from your estate for the time period of 5-years prior to the date of your death.  So you could suffer for a while and die from cancer; all that costs the value of your estate.  In that case do the kids lose their right to inherit the family home?  

What are the implications of this new rule upon individuals and families?

The argument for is that government services need to be at least partially covered by the receiver, and any possible means for recovery is justified.

The counter argument to the rule is that government is colluding with banks and insurance to re-acquire private property, thus possible constitutional questions will arise.

I hope someone can provide more information about this.