Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/21pdf/20-1263diff_868c.pdf
Page Number: 32.0

Cite as:  596 U. S. ____ (2022) 

15 

SOTOMAYOR, J., dissenting 

for American Justice Association et al. as Amici Curiae 16– 
20.  Under  the  provisions  of  the  Act  at  issue  here,  States
may sue tortfeasors directly, but as Florida itself explains, 
it is “more cost-effective” for beneficiaries to sue.  Tr. of Oral 
Arg. 65.  By diminishing beneficiaries’ interests in doing so, 
the  Court’s  expansion  of  States’  assignment  rights  could 
perversely cause States to recover fewer overall expenses, 
all while unsettling expectations in the States that have re-
lied on a contrary reading of federal law.6 

In the end, the Court’s atomizing interpretation has little 
to commend it, particularly when contrasted with the con-
sistent,  administrable  scheme  Congress  crafted.  The 
Court’s  reading  also  undercuts  Congress’  choice  to  allow 
Medicaid beneficiaries to place their excess recovery funds 
in Special Needs Trusts, protecting their ability to pay for
important expenses Medicaid will not cover.  See n. 1, su-
pra.  Congress may wish to intercede to address any disrup-
tion that ensues from today’s decision, but under a proper
reading of the Act, such intervention would have been un-
necessary. 

* 

* 

* 

“[T]he meaning of a statute is to be looked for, not in any 
single section, but in all the parts together and in their re-
lation  to  the  end  in  view.”  Panama  Refining  Co.  v.  Ryan, 
293 U. S. 388, 439 (1935) (Cardozo, J., dissenting).  Because 
the Court disserves this cardinal rule today, I respectfully
dissent. 

—————— 

6 The vast majority of lower courts (including Florida’s Supreme Court) 
read these provisions much as I do.  See, e.g., Latham v. Office of Recovery 
Servs., 2019 UT 51, 448 P. 3d 1241; Giraldo v. Agency for Health Care 
Admin.,  248  So. 3d  53  (Fla.  2018);  In re  E.  B.,  229  W. Va.  435,  729 
S. E. 2d 270 (2012); Doe v. Vermont Office of Health Access, 2012 VT 15A, 
191  Vt.  517,  54  A. 3d  474;  Pet.  for  Cert.  18–19  (collecting  additional 
cases).