Arkansas Dept of Health v Ahlborn - limits on Medicaid liens
Personal Injury News Items
In the recent case of Arkansas Dep't of Health and Human Services v. Ahlborn, S.Ct. No. 04-1506 (U.S.S.C. May 01, 2006), the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that federal Medicaid and anti-lien law precludes a state Department of Health and state AGs from recovering more out of a tort claimant's settlement than that portion of the settlement which actually represents reimbursement for medical payments. State third-party liability provisions attempting to recover a greater amount (such as 100% of medical expenses paid) are preempted by the federal law. Hence, for example, if the plaintiff's PI monetary settlement is only one sixth of the value of the plaintiff's claims, Medicaid can take no more than one sixth of the recovery.
On August 12, 2025, a deadly crash happened in Florida when an illegal immigrant named Harjinder Singh driving a commercial truck made an illegal U-turn on a freeway - killing 3. The accident resulted in criticism of the states of Washington and California for their commercial driver licensing policies which issued a CDL to an illegal immigrant who could not speak English and had flunked the CDL test 10 times. Another similar fatal crash took place in California on October 21, 2025, when another illegal immigrant, Jashanpreet Singh, driving a commercial truck failed to even brake as he crashed into the back of a line of stopped traffic - killing 3. He also had been given a CDL by Gavin Newsom's DMV. Three dead after illegal immigrant driving a commercial truck causes freeway mayhem
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