Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/21pdf/20-1263diff_868c.pdf
Page Number: 10

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

5 

Opinion of the Court 

allocated for past expenses. 

While  the  administrative  proceeding  was  ongoing,  Gal-
lardo brought this lawsuit seeking a declaration that Flor-
ida was violating the Medicaid Act by trying to recover from
portions of the settlement compensating for future medical 
expenses.  The U. S. District Court for the Northern District 
of Florida granted Gallardo summary judgment.  See Gal-
lardo  v.  Dudeck,  263  F. Supp. 3d  1247,  1260  (2017).    The 
Eleventh  Circuit  reversed,  concluding  that  “the  text  and 
structure  of  the  federal  Medicaid  statutes  do  not  conflict 
with Florida law” because they “only prohibit a State from
asserting a lien against any part of a settlement not ‘desig-
nated as payments for medical care.’ ”  Gallardo v. Dudeck, 
963 F. 3d 1167, 1176 (2020) (quoting Ahlborn, 547 U. S., at 
284).  The  Eleventh  Circuit  explained  that  the  relevant 
Medicaid  Act  provisions  “d[o]  not  in  any  way  prohibit  [a 
State] from seeking reimbursement from settlement mon-
ies for medical care allocated to future care.”  963 F. 3d, at 
1178 (emphasis deleted).  Judge Wilson dissented, contend-
ing that the Medicaid Act “limit[s] the state to the part of
the  recovery  that  represents  payment  for  past  medical
care.”  Id., at 1184. 

Because the Supreme Court of Florida came to the oppo-
site  conclusion  of  the  Eleventh  Circuit,  see  Giraldo  v. 
Agency for Health Care Admin., 248 So. 3d 53, 56 (2018), we
granted certiorari, 594 U. S. ___ (2021). 

II 
Gallardo argues that the Eleventh Circuit erred by per-
mitting  Florida  to  seek  reimbursement  for  medical  ex-
penses from settlement amounts representing payment for 
future medical care.  According to  Gallardo, the Medicaid
Act’s anti-lien provision in §1396p forecloses recovery from
settlement  amounts  other  than  those  allocated  for  past
medical  care  paid  for  by  Medicaid.    Thus,  Gallardo  con-
cludes, the anti-lien provision preempts any state law that