Bolanos

INTRODUCTION

These proceedings involve amendments enacted in 2007 to statutes that govern claims for reimbursements made by California’s State Department of Health Care Services (Department) for funds expended on behalf of injured parties by the state’s Medi-Cal program. The background of the Medi-Cal program has been described in Shewry v. Arnold (2004) 125 Cal.App.4th 186, 193 [ 22 Cal.Rptr.3d 488 ]. The amendments in question came in response to Arkansas Dept. of Health and Human Servs. v. Ahlborn (2006) 547 U.S. 268 [ 164 L.Ed.2d 459 , 126 S.Ct. 1752 ] (Ahlborn). Because the relevant statutes speak not of the Department but of the Director of the Department of Health Care Services, we will also refer to the director and not the Department.

Prior to Ahlbom and the amendments we discuss in this opinion, the director was able to recoup the full amount of the benefits provided, less 25 percent; the deduction represented the director’s contribution toward attorney’s fees and costs. The director’s recovery was also limited to 50 percent of the beneficiary’s recovery.

Ahlborn brought two basic changes that are reflected in the 2007 amendments. First, the director is…