Dalzin

ORDER

Plaintiffs bring this action seeking a declaration that California’s “proportionate share” system for the recovery of Medi-Cal funds violates federal law. Plaintiffs also seek an injunction enjoining the defendants from enforcing this system against them. Currently pending before the court are the parties’ cross motions for summary judgment and plaintiffs’ motion for a permanent injunction against the enforcement of the law. For the following reasons, plaintiffs’ motions will be granted, and defendants’ motion will be denied.

I

The facts of this ease are undisputed. California participates in the Medicaid program, a program through which the federal government provides funding to participating states so they can in turn provide medical assistance to eligible low-income persons. Through its power to raise and spend revenue, Congress has imposed several restrictions on the ways in which the states can manage these programs.

Federal law generally allows states to seek reimbursement from a person’s estate for medical assistance provided to the decedent while he was alive. In some situations, however, the states cannot seek such reimbursement. Specifically, 42 USC §…