Arkansas Department of Human Services v. Ahlborn (04-1506)

(See the end of this post for more on the issues on remand of the Marshall case to the Ninth Circuit.)

In the last of three cases decided Monday, the Court limited the power of states to place a lien on Medicaid benefit payments that an individual is entitled to receive. The decision, written by Justice Stevens, came in the case of Arkansas Department of Human Services v. Ahlborn (04-1506). The case involved a woman who had received $550,000 in a settlement for her injuries in a car accident. The state had claimed that it had a right to recover the full amount of Medicaid benefits it had paid to the woman -- $215,645. But the Court ruled that it could collect only $35,581.47. That amount represents the portion of the settlement award that related to medical expenses -- the only part the Court said Arkansas could reclaim. The remainder of the claim, the Court said, would violate the anti-lien provisions of federal law.