Opinion ID: 6938518
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: The Medicaid Claim.

Text: The district court granted summary judgment on behalf of the plaintiffs on their claim that Hawaii’s use of the AFDC auto equity exemption in calculating Medicaid eligibility is contrary to Haw.Rev.Stat. § 346-29. Wi-nona Rubin, Director of the Hawaii Department of Human Services (“DHS”), appeals. When DHS calculates whether an applicant is eligible for Medicaid, it exempts some assets from consideration. There are essentially two types of Medicaid coverage: categorical coverage, which is given automatically to recipients of AFDC and Supplemental Security Income (“SSI”), and “medically needy” coverage which provides medical benefits to those who cannot pay their medical bills, but who have extra income that disqualifies them from the other benefit programs. In Hawaii, the resource limits for categorical Medicaid are the same as the limits for the federal SSI program. H.R.S. § 346-29(4) — (5). The Hawaii program for “medically-needy” Medicaid for families with dependent children uses the AFDC auto equity exemption of $1500. However, the State applies a more generous auto equity exemption regulation to applicants for “medically-needy” Medicaid who are aged, blind or disabled and who qualify for medical assistance. Plaintiffs argue, and the district court agreed, that Haw.Rev.Stat. § 346-29 requires DHS to use SSI resource standards in all Medicaid programs, including “medieally-needy” Medicaid for families with dependent children.
As a threshold matter, Rubin argues that she is immune from suit under the Eleventh Amendment. Whether there is immunity from suit under the Eleventh Amendment is a question of law we review de novo. Harrison v. Hickel, 6 F.3d 1347, 1352 (9th Cir.1993). The district court did not address Rubin’s Eleventh Amendment defense. The Eleventh Amendment, as interpreted, generally acts to bar plaintiffs from suing state governments in federal court for violations of state law. Pennhurst State Sch. & Hosp. v. Halderman, 465 U.S. 89, 106, 104 S.Ct. 900, 911, 79 L.Ed.2d 67 (1984). The Eleventh Amendment does not prevent federal court jurisdiction, however, when a state waives its immunity. Id. at 99, 104 S.Ct. at 907. The plaintiffs argue that we have jurisdiction to decide the Medicaid claim because Hawaii waived its immunity. 8 Plaintiffs argue that Rubin waived Eleventh Amendment immunity by raising it only in her Answer (not at trial), by filing an affirmative claim against the Secretary in state court, and by filing a cross motion for summary judgment in federal court. A court may not infer a waiver of immunity lightly. Rarely have courts found immunity waived absent an explicit waiver by the state or express language by Congress. See Edelman v. Jordan, 415 U.S. 651, 673, 94 S.Ct. 1347, 1360-61, 39 L.Ed.2d 662 (1974); Atascadero State Hosp. et al. v. Scanlon, 473 U.S. 234, 238 n. 1, 105 S.Ct. 3142, 3145 n. 1, 87 L.Ed.2d 171 (1985). Recently, however, “the [Supreme] Court has ... recognized that Eleventh Amendment immunity ... may even be forfeited by the State’s failure to assert it.” ITSI TV Productions, Inc. v. Agricultural Ass’ns, 3 F.3d 1289, 1291 (9th Cir.1993) (discussing Blatchford v. Native Village of Noatak, 501 U.S. 775, 111 S.Ct. 2578, 115 L.Ed.2d 686 (1991)). In Blatchford, 501 U.S. at 785 n. 3, 111 S.Ct. at 2584 n. 3, the Supreme Court noted that in another case, Moe v. Confederated Salish and Koote-nai Tribes, 425 U.S. 463, 96 S.Ct. 1634, 48 L.Ed.2d 96 (1976), Montana had waived its immunity because it “had not objected in this Court on sovereign immunity grounds.” But this glimmer of hope for the plaintiffs is unavailing because here Hawaii has objected “in this court on sovereign immunity grounds.” That Hawaii did not raise the issue in the district court except in its answer does not amount to a waiver of immunity. See Edelman, 415 U.S. at 677-78, 94 S.Ct. at 1362-63. In the face of this well-established rule that states cannot easily waive their immunity, Vargas v. Trainor, 508 F.2d 485, 491-92 (7th Cir.1974), cert. denied 420 U.S. 1008, 95 S.Ct. 1454, 43 L.Ed.2d 767 (1975), does not provide the authority plaintiffs need to support their claim. The Seventh Circuit held that the Illinois Department of Public Aid waived its immunity when, in a memorandum to the court, it agreed to comply with the court’s decision on the merits if the court did not grant an injunction against it pending appeal. The court found that: “A representation made in a judicial proceeding for the purpose of inducing the court to act or refrain from acting satisfies the [waiver] requirements_” Id. at 492. This case does not provide a sufficient basis on which to find a waiver. While Hawaii did ask the court to resolve certain issues in its cross motion for summary judgment, it did so to defend itself from suit. It did not, as did the defendant in Vargas, guarantee to the court that it would comply with its final judgment. We therefore conclude that the Medicaid claim against Rubin is barred by the Eleventh Amendment. Accordingly, we reverse the district court’s holding on this claim. Because this case was originally removed from state court, we direct the district court on remand to remand the Medicaid claim to Hawaii state court. See Carnegie-Mellon Univ. v. Cohill, 484 U.S. 343, 351-53, 108 S.Ct. 614, 619-21, 98 L.Ed.2d 720 (1988).