Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services v. Irene Blumer
Decided February 20, 2002. Ruth Bader Ginsburg delivered the opinion of the Court.
Docket 00-952 · 534 U.S. 473 (2002) · Cited 177 times
Holding
The income-first method qualifies as a permissible interpretation of the MCCA.
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 6–3.
Majority · 6
- Ruth Bader Ginsburg · delivered the opinion of the Court
- Anthony McLeod Kennedy
- Clarence Thomas
- David Hackett Souter
- Stephen Gerald Breyer
- William Hubbs Rehnquist
Dissenting · 3
- Antonin Scalia
- John Paul Stevens · filed a dissenting opinion
- Sandra Day O'Connor
“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.
- Schweiker v. Gray Panthers · 453 U.S. 34 (1981)
- Batterton v. Francis · 432 U.S. 416 (1977)
- Lukhard v. Reed · 481 U.S. 368 (1987)
- United States v. Mead Corp. · 533 U.S. 218 (2001)
- Harris v. McRae · 448 U.S. 297 (1980)
- Thomas Jefferson University v. Shalala · 512 U.S. 504 (1994)
- K Mart Corp. v. Cartier, Inc. · 486 U.S. 281 (1988)
- Smiley v. Citibank (South Dakota), N. A. · 517 U.S. 735 (1996)
Cited by
Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.
- Dada v. Mukasey · 554 U.S. 1 (2008)
- National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius · 567 U.S. 519 (2012)
- Schaffer Ex Rel. Schaffer v. Weast · 546 U.S. 49 (2005)
- Arkansas Department of Health & Human Services v. Ahlborn · 547 U.S. 268 (2006)
- Health and Hospital Corporation of Marion Cty. v. Talevski · 599 U.S. 166 (2023)
Official text
Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)
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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2002). 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).