Whelan v. Division of Medical Assistance

Elizabeth Whelan settled a medical malpractice claim *664against her mother’s obstetrician for $2,000,000.2 Over seven years,3 beginning soon after Elizabeth’s birth, the Commonwealth, through the Division of Medical Assistance (the division), had provided Medicaid benefits for her care. Upon receiving notice through a newspaper story of the judgment Elizabeth had obtained, the division filed a lien of $334,178.12 against the settlement proceeds. Elizabeth moved to discharge the Commonwealth’s lien, and the Superior Court judge who presided over the underlying malpractice trial denied that…