Aldona Wos, Secretary, North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, Petitioner v. E. M. a., a Minor, BY and Through Her Guardian Ad Litem, Daniel H. Johnson, et al. (568 U.S. 627)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided March 20, 2013 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 568 U.S. 627 · 133 S. Ct. 1391
- Decided
- March 20, 2013
- Term
- October Term 2012
- Vote
- 6–3
- Majority author
- Justice Kennedy
- Issue area
- Federalism
- Disposition
- Affirmed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party lost
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
Opinion excerpt
Justice Kennedy delivered the opinion of the Court. A federal statute prohibits States from attaching a lien on the property of a Medicaid beneficiary to recover benefits paid by the State on the beneficiary’s behalf. 42 U. S. C. § 1396p(a)(l). The anti-lien provision pre-empts a State’s effort to take any portion of a Medicaid beneficiary’s tort judgment or settlement not “designated as payments for medical care.” Arkansas Dept. of Health and Human Servs. v. Ahlborn, 547 U. S. 268, 284 (2006). North Carolina has enacted a statute requiring that up to one-third of any damages recovered by a beneficiary for a tortious injury be paid to the State to reimburse it for payments it made for medical treatment on account of the injury. See N. C. Gen. Stat. Ann. § 108A-57 (Lexis 2011); Andrews v. Haygood, 362 N. C. 599, 604-605, 669 S. E. 2d 310, 314 (2008). The question presented is whether the North Carolina statute is compatible with the federal anti-lien provision. f—4 When respondent E. M. A. was born in February 2000, she suffered multiple serious birth injuries which left her deaf, blind, and unable to sit, walk, crawl, or talk. The injuries also cause her to suffer from mental retardation and a seizure disorder. She requires between 12 and 18 hours of skilled nursing care per day. She will not be able to work, live independently, or provide for her basic needs. The cost of her…
Excerpt of a 27,823-character opinion. The full text and citation network load in the interactive viewer above.