Court Opinion

ID: 8974152
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2022-11-27 10:49:26.98647+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:10:31.168203
License: Public Domain

CANBY, Circuit Judge,
dissenting:
As the majority has made clear, there is some doubt what Congress meant when it permitted a state to recover benefits properly paid to a person over age 65 from that person’s “estate.” 42 U.S.C. § 1396p(b)(l)(B). The common law definition of “estate,” which the majority adopts, imposes on the states a system that makes recovery depend on a technical distinction that has nothing necessarily to do with the purposes of the Medicaid program or of the exception permitting recovery of benefits furnished to persons over age 65. As the district court pointed out, an heir that furnishes nursing assistance to a Medicaid recipient in return for a bequest of the recipient’s residence will be subject to a claim by the state. A joint tenant who has rendered no services and is not in need will be subject to no such claim when he or she takes the residence by survivorship. Whether the state may seek its recovery depends on a legal formality, not on any distinction rationally related to Congress’ purposes.
California’s interpretation of section 1396p(b)(l)(B), supported by the Secretary of Health and Human Services, eliminates this irrationality by permitting recovery from heirs and joint tenants alike. When hardship is involved, the State makes allowances for that exigency across the board, regardless whether an heir or joint tenant is involved. Thus, California’s statute does not apply at all when the recipient passes a residence to a surviving spouse, or minor or disabled children. When enforcement of *1009-1023the state’s statute against heirs or survivors would cause substantial hardship, the Department has authority, which it has exercised, to waive its claim in whole or part. California also asserts that it does not enforce its claims to deprive the heir or joint tenant of a residence; the state accepts a lien enforceable only at sale.
Because a broad definition of “estate” permits California to administer a rational system of recovery, and the common law definition does not, I would opt for the former. The goal of statutory interpretation is to further, in as sensible a fashion as possible, the congressional purposes behind the statute. California’s construction, supported by the Secretary, does that. The common law definition does not. I would affirm.