North East Medical Services, Inc. v. California Department of Health Care Services, Health & Human Services Agency

Where North East Medical Services, Inc. (“NEMS”) and La Clínica de la Raza, Inc. (“La Clínica,” and, together with NEMS, the “Centers”) have already paid money to the California Department of Health Care Services (“California”), they may not avoid the Eleventh Amendment’s general bar to seeking money damages from a state simply by alleging that Cali fornia was not entitled to the payments. The Centers’ claims must fall within a recognized Eleventh Amendment exception. See Edelman v. Jordan, 415 U.S. 651, 667-69 , 94 S.Ct. 1347 , 39 L.Ed.2d 662 (1974); Ford Motor Co. v. Dep’t of Treasury of Ind., 323 U.S. 459, 463-64 , 65 S.Ct. 347 , 89 L.Ed. 389 (1945), abrogated on other grounds by Lapides v. Bd. of Regents of Univ. Sys. of Ga., 535 U.S. 613 , 122 S.Ct. 1640 , 152 L.Ed.2d 806 (2002); Taylor v. Westly, 402 F.3d 924, 929-30 (9th Cir.2005). Accordingly, we affirm the district court’s dismissal of the Centers’ claims seeking reimbursement for money already paid to California. However, we reverse the district court’s dismissal of the Centers’ claims alleging genuine prospective relief and remand to allow the district court to assess whether the Centers may proceed with those…