Benjamin v. United States (In Re Benjamin)
Opinion
We withdraw our prior opinion,
The question presented is whether
I.
Kenneth Benjamin was the designated beneficiary of his sister's disability benefits. In September 2013, the Social Security Administration ("SSA") notified Benjamin that it had become aware of his sister's return to work. The SSA determined that her benefits had expired in April 2012. But because it did not sever her disability check until September 2013, the SSA would recoup the overpayment, *295 which totaled $19,286.90. Benjamin and his sister requested reconsideration of the overpayment determination and a waiver of overpayment.
Under
Eventually, in July 2016, the SSA turned to Benjamin's request for a waiver of the overpayment, which it denied. Benjamin asked for a personal conference with the SSA to reconsider its decision. After the conference, the SSA again ruled against Benjamin. Benjamin filed a timely appeal to an administrative law judge. The appeal has yet to be decided.
After it denied his waiver request, the SSA resumed withholding $536 a month from Benjamin's social-security check. The burden soon became too much: In May 2017, Benjamin filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. He then lodged an adversarial proceeding against the SSA in bankruptcy court. He alleged that the SSA collected $6,000 from him illegally and in violation of its own regulations. He demanded repayment in full. He also demanded the return of the $536 collected from him in May due to the collection's proximity to his bankruptcy filing. 1
The SSA moved to dismiss Benjamin's claims for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, claiming Benjamin had alleged only regulatory violations, which must first be exhausted through the administrative-appeal process. Even if the court had jurisdiction, the SSA contended that the claims should be dismissed under Rule 12(b)(6). The bankruptcy court granted the SSA's motion to dismiss for "the reasons stated in the [m]otion." Benjamin appealed to the district court, which affirmed on jurisdictional grounds. This appeal followed. The sole issue is whether the bankruptcy court had jurisdiction to hear Benjamin's claims.
II.
Whether subject matter jurisdiction exists over a given claim is a question we review de novo.
Family Rehab., Inc. v. Azar
,
III.
Under
[1] The findings and decision of the Commissioner of Social Security after a hearing shall be binding upon all individuals who were parties to such hearing.
*296 [2] No findings of fact or decision of the Commissioner of Social Security shall be reviewed by any person, tribunal, or governmental agency except as [provided in § 405(g) ]. [3] No action against the United States, the Commissioner of Social Security, or any officer or employee thereof shall be brought under section 1331 or 1346 of Title 28 to recover on any claim arising under [Title II of the Social Security Act]. 2
The Supreme Court has held that § 405(h) "purports to make exclusive the judicial review method set forth in § 405(g)" for claims falling within its scope.
Shalala v. Ill. Council on Long Term Care, Inc.
,
The question before us is whether § 405(h) 's third sentence bars bankruptcy courts from relying on their general bankruptcy jurisdictional grant found at
A.
The third sentence of § 405(h) states that "[n]o action against the United States, the Commissioner of Social Security, or any officer or employee thereof shall be brought under section 1331 or 1346 of Title 28 to recover on any claim arising under [Title II of the Social Security Act]." Benjamin would have us read that sentence for what it says: as a bar on jurisdiction under §§ 1331 and 1346 4 -but not under § 1334. The SSA, in contrast, asks us to interpret the sentence as barring § 1334 jurisdiction as well. This is the position the district court adopted, and it is a position that has garnered the support of the Third, Seventh, Eighth, and Eleventh Circuits. Only the Ninth Circuit has adopted Benjamin's reading.
The Seventh Circuit was the first court to read § 405(h) 's third sentence as including a hidden jurisdictional bar. In
Bodimetric Health Services Inc. v. Aetna Life & Casualty
, the court considered whether the third sentence stripped courts of their § 1332 diversity jurisdiction to hear claims arising under the Medicare Act.
5
This language, the Seventh Circuit said, clearly expressed Congress's "intent not to alter the substantive scope of section 405(h). Because the previous version of section 405(h) precluded judicial review of diversity actions, so too must newly revised section 405(h) bar these actions."
Id
. The Third and Eighth Circuits adopted the Seventh Circuit's reasoning to reach the same conclusion.
See
Nichole Med. Equip. & Supply, Inc. v. TriCenturion, Inc.
,
In
In re Bayou Shores SNF, LLC
, the Eleventh Circuit built on this body of caselaw by deciding that § 405(h) 's third sentence barred bankruptcy jurisdiction under § 1334.
The only circuit to read § 405(h) 's third sentence according to its plain text is the Ninth Circuit. It has held that § 405(h) "only bars actions under
*298 We must now take sides in this circuit split. With respect to the majority of our sister circuits, we reject the non-textual approach exemplified by the Eleventh Circuit and join the Ninth Circuit in applying the third sentence's plain meaning-a meaning that, everyone agrees, does not bar § 1334 jurisdiction.
While the recodification canon is useful in some instances, it only applies-as the Eleventh Circuit noted-in the absence of a clear indication from Congress that it intended to change the law's substance.
See
In re Bayou Shores SNF, LLC
,
The Supreme Court's opinion in
United States v. Wells
is a good example of how to correctly apply the clear-indication exception to the recodification canon.
Attempting to undermine the principle animating Wells , the SSA marshals four cases-two from the Supreme Court and two from this court-to show that the recodification canon can be used to trump clear text, but the cases show nothing of the sort. In each, the challenged text was ambiguous or was subject to multiple reasonable interpretations.
Leading the charge for the SSA is
Tidewater Oil Co. v. United States
, in which the Supreme Court interpreted the recodified version of the interlocutory-appeal provision found at
Next up is
Southern Pacific Transportation Co. v. San Antonio
,
And in
American Bankers Insurance Co. of Florida v. United States,
this court declined to adopt the literal meaning of the word "taxable" in favor of an alternative reasonable interpretation.
Section 405(h) 's third sentence is different from the statutory provisions in those cases. Unlike in Tidewater Oil and Southern Pacific , the third sentence is not susceptible to two plausible constructions; it is not ambiguous. It bars actions under §§ 1331 and 1346 -no more, no less. There is no plausible way to read " section 1331 or 1346 of Title 28" as secretly including § 1334 (or § 1332 for that matter). For the same reason the deletion of "materiality" was dispositive in Wells, the deletion of § 1334 jurisdiction is dispositive here. And the third sentence's plain meaning does not become clouded with ambiguity when one's gaze is expanded to the surrounding statutory text, as was the case in American Bankers .
The SSA's final case deserves a separate discussion. In
Ankenbrandt v. Richards
, the Court addressed the 1948 recodification of the diversity-jurisdiction statute.
At first blush,
Ankenbrandt
may seem to ignore the statute's plain text. Domestic-relations cases certainly fall within the category of "all civil actions." Just as the
Ankenbrandt
Court used the recodification canon to read out of the statute a category clearly included in the general language, the SSA asks us to do the inverse: to read into § 405(h) a category not listed. This
*300
argument flounders, however, when a distinction is brought to light. The words "all civil actions" can plausibly be interpreted as a shorthand or synonym for "suits of a civil nature at common law or in equity." So it was reasonable for the Court to assume that Congress did not change a 100-year-old policy by using a synonym for the past language. This distinction does not hold with the revision to § 405(h) 's third sentence. Replacing " section 41 of Title 28" with "section 1331 or 1346 of [T]itle 28" cannot plausibly be interpreted as a shorthand way of naming the near-30 grants that were originally included in
In a final attempt to undermine the plain meaning of § 405(h) 's third sentence, the SSA reverts to policy. It tells us that allowing § 1334 jurisdiction would be ill-advised because doing so would deprive the bankruptcy court of the SSA's expertise in handling benefits claims. This argument is reminiscent of the EPA's position in
Utility Air Regulatory Group v. EPA
,
In sum, we interpret the third sentence to mean what it says. And it says nothing about § 1334. The district court erred by concluding that the third sentenced barred the bankruptcy court's § 1334 jurisdiction.
B.
Our holding on § 405(h) 's third sentence necessitates reversal of the district court's decision and a remand to the bankruptcy court. However, as our interpretation of the third sentence raises possible questions for § 405(h) 's second sentence, we offer the following guidance for the remand.
Our precedent has largely failed to give adequate attention to the conceptual differences between § 405(h) 's second and third sentences. Most of the time, our cases refer to § 405(h) as a whole.
See
Family Rehab., Inc. v. Azar
,
Recall that § 405(h) 's second sentence states that "[n]o findings of fact or decision of the Commissioner of Social Security shall be reviewed by any person, tribunal, or governmental agency except as [stated in § 405(g) ]."
We will not now parse the details of Benjamin's claims-that is a task for remand. But we will clarify what type of decision § 405(h) 's second sentence channels. It will be for the bankruptcy court to decide if Benjamin's claims are challenging that type of decision.
At first glance, § 405(h) 's second sentence looks like it might apply to every and any decision by the Commissioner. But upon closer inspection, we believe that § 405(h) 's second sentence applies only where the would-be plaintiff is challenging a decision regarding his entitlement to benefits. The key is reading § 405(h) and § 405(g) alongside § 405(b)(1) :
Section 405(b)(1) : The Commissioner of Social Security is directed to make findings of fact, and decisions as to the rights of any individual applying for a payment under this subchapter. ... Upon request by any such individual ... who makes a showing in writing that his or her rights may be prejudiced by any decision the Commissioner of Social Security has rendered, the Commissioner shall give such applicant ... reasonable notice and opportunity for a hearing with respect to such decision ....
Section 405(h) : The findings and decision of the Commissioner of Social Security after a hearing shall be binding upon all individuals who were parties to such hearing. No findings of fact or decision of the Commissioner of Social Security shall be reviewed by any person, tribunal, or governmental agency except as [provided in § 405(g) ].
Section 405(g) : Any individual, after any final decision of the Commissioner of Social Security made after a hearing to which he was a party, irrespective of the amount in controversy, may obtain a review of such decision by a civil action commenced within sixty days after the mailing to him of notice of such decision ....
Section 405(b)(1) directs the Commissioner to make "findings" and "decisions" on "the rights of any individual applying for a payment" and says that when those decisions prejudice the rights of the individuals, those individuals shall be given a hearing if they request one. Section 405(h) parrots that language, saying the Commissioner's "findings" and "decision" are binding "after a hearing" and that any review of the Commissioner's "findings" and "decision" must proceed as provided in § 405(g). Section 405(g) authorizes a person to seek judicial review of the Commissioner's "final decision ... made after a hearing." As we interpret them, § 405(h) and § 405(g) refer to the same findings, decisions, and hearings referenced in § 405(b) -findings, decisions, and hearings regarding "the rights of individuals applying for a payment under [Subchapter II]." Put differently, where an individual is
not
challenging a decision regarding his entitlement to benefits made after an application for payment and therefore
not
receiving the statutorily-prescribed hearing under subsection (b)(1), his claim never gets channeled under § 405(h) 's second sentence or reviewed by a court under § 405(g).
9
See
Smith v. Berryhill
, --- U.S. ----,
The Supreme Court said as much in
Califano v. Sanders
,
With this guidance in mind, the bankruptcy court should examine Benjamin's claims and determine whether they are primarily about his entitlement to benefits-that is, a payment of money because he (or his sister) is disabled-or claim for money because the SSA failed to comply with its own regulations in recouping the overpayment. The former claim would be channeled by § 405(h) 's second sentence into § 405(g) ; the latter would not be. And if Benjamin's claims are not channeled, then the bankruptcy court had jurisdiction under § 1334 to hear Benjamin's claims.
* * *
For the foregoing reasons, the judgment of the district court is REVERSED, and this case is REMANDED to the bankruptcy court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
In his original complaint and throughout his many amended complaints, Benjamin alleged other violations and eventually requested over $150,000 in additional relief, citing injuries such as emotional distress. On appeal, however, Benjamin challenges only the dismissal of the claims related to the $6,000 withheld from 2014 through 2015 and the $536 withheld in May 2017. His failure to adequately argue the other claims in his brief renders them abandoned.
See, e.g.
,
DeLoach v. Bryan
,
"Title II contains the old-age, survivors, and disability insurance programs codified at
Ordinarily, this means that a plaintiff must run the gauntlet of the SSA's four-level-review process, which culminates in a decision from the Appeals Council.
See generally
These provisions grant federal courts subject matter jurisdiction over federal questions and certain cases in which the United States is a defendant.
See
Section 405(h) is made applicable to the Medicare Act by 42 U.S.C. § 1395ii.
The Social Security Act Amendments of 1939 barred actions under "section 24 of the Judicial Code of the United States." Pub. L. No. 76-379, § 205(h),
The SSA argues that the Ninth Circuit has retreated from this case. It cites to
Kaiser v. Blue Cross of California
for support.
This court largely adopted the district court's opinion without adding much analysis of its own.
See
Am. Bankers
,
This interpretation of § 405(h) 's second sentence is fully consistent with our decision in
Wolcott, M.D., P.A. v. Sebelius
,
Reference
- Full Case Name
- In the MATTER OF Kenneth Wayne BENJAMIN, Debtor Kenneth Wayne Benjamin, Appellant v. United States of America, Social Security Administration, Appellee
- Cited By
- 19 cases
- Status
- Published