A.R.S. 36-2903 Interpretation

In Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System v. Bentley, 187 Ariz. 229, 928 P.2d 653 (App. 1996), the Court considered the right of subrogation in favor of Arizona's Medicaid program created by A.R.S. 36-2903. Though the statute prescribed a right to assignment of "all types of medical benefits" to which a person was entitled, we rejected the attempt to extend the term to include tort settlements, noting that "the term 'medical benefits' ordinarily means payments for medical treatment to which a person has some entitlement by contract or statute." Id. at 232, 928 P.2d at 656.