Arkansas Department of Health and Human Services, et al. v. Heidi Ahlborn

Decided May 1, 2006. John Paul Stevens delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 04-1506 · 547 U.S. 268 (2006) · Cited 286 times

Holding

Federal Medicaid law does not authorize ADHS to assert a lien on Ahlborn’s settlement in an amount exceeding $35,581.47, and the federal anti-lien provision affirmatively prohibits it from doing so.

The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.

How the Justices voted

Decided 9–0.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• United States v. Craft · 535 U.S. 274 (2002)
• Washington State Department of Social & Health Services v. Guardianship Estate of Keffeler · 537 U.S. 371 (2003)
• Drye v. United States · 528 U.S. 49 (1999)
• Wisconsin Department of Health & Family Services v. Blumer · 534 U.S. 473 (2002)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• Gallardo v. Marstiller · 596 U.S. 420 (2022)
• National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius · 567 U.S. 519 (2012)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2006). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).