Grayam v. Department of Health & Human Resources

WORKMAN, Chief Justice:

This Court consolidated these two appeals because they involve a common issue regarding the legal effect of statutory amendments made to West Virginia Code § 9-5-11. Appellant in both cases, the Department of Health and Human Resources (“Appellant”), argues that the 1993 and 1995 amendments to West Virginia Code § 9-5-11 alter the traditional meaning of the term “subrogation,” as was applied by this Court in Kittle v. Icard, 185 W.Va. 126, 405 S.E.2d 456 (1991). To the contrary, Appellees, Amanda Grayam and James F. Hatfield, by Ricky Kennedy, his guardian and next…