PER CURIAM.
Iala Suarez appeals the circuit court's determination that it lacked jurisdiction to resolve the dispute between Suarez and the Agency for Health Care Administration regarding the amount the agency was entitled to recover for past medical expenses from Suarez's settlement with a third-party defendant in her action for medical malpractice. We agree with the circuit court's application of section 409.910(17)(b), Florida Statutes (2013), and hold that the circuit court lacked jurisdiction to consider Suarez's motion for a determination of the amount of the Medicaid lien. For the reasons stated below, we treat this appeal as a petition for writ of mandamus and deny the writ.
On May 30, 2013, Suarez filed a complaint alleging medical malpractice against seven defendants. Suarez sought recovery against the defendants for her daughter's permanent and catastrophic injuries sustained during birth. On February 14, 2014, Suarez petitioned the trial court to approve a settlement with one of the defendant doctors, Dr. Ruben Guzman. The court approved the settlement on April 3, 2014, and in the same order approved the guardian ad litem's recommendation to allocate $4129.71 for past medical expenses. We note that the record is unclear as to whether Suarez gave AHCA notice of the settlement as required by section 409.910(11)(d).
On April 28, 2014, Suarez filed an emergency motion for determination of Medicaid lien, seeking "an order directing the Agency for Health Care Administration to accept the Court's allocation to the Agency from the settlement." After a hearing, the court quashed the motion, finding that it lacked jurisdiction over the dispute regarding the lien under section 409.910(17)(b), which requires a recipient of Medicaid benefits to contest the amount designated as a recovered medical expense by petition to the Division of Administrative Hearings. Suarez now appeals this order.
The order on appeal is not a final order; the parties remain participants in the underlying proceedings against the remaining
Section 409.910 was amended in 2013 to add subsection 17(b), which outlines a procedure by which a recipient of Medicaid "may contest the amount designated as recovered medical expense damages payable to the agency pursuant to paragraph 11(f)." Ch.2013-150 § 2, at 1718-19, Laws of Fla. Prior to the amendment, recipients were able to challenge the amount of a settlement designated as a recovery for past medical expenses by motion in the circuit court. See, e.g., Agency for Health Care Admin. v. Riley, 119 So.3d 514, 515 (Fla. 2d DCA 2013). After the 2013 amendment, recipients must bring their challenges by petition to the Division of Administrative Hearings. See § 409.910(17)(b). Here, Suarez argues that the 2012 version of the statute should apply to her because she filed her action on May 30, 2013, prior to the effective date of the 2013 amendment. She contends that the amendment to section 409.910(17)(b) is a substantive change in the law and that therefore it should not apply retroactively. See State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Laforet, 658 So.2d 55, 61 (Fla.1995) ("The general rule is that a substantive statute will not operate retrospectively absent clear legislative intent to the contrary, but that a procedural or remedial statute is to operate retrospectively."). We do not agree.
AHCA had no right to reimbursement until a settlement was reached. Section 409.910 states:
§ 409.910(1) (emphasis added). Thus, it is the recovery of third-party benefits that causes AHCA's right to recovery to vest. Because the settlement with Dr. Guzman was not reached until 2014, AHCA had no right to recovery until that time. Accordingly, the 2013 version of the statute controls. See Fla. Ins. Guar. Ass'n v. Bernard, 140 So.3d 1023, 1029 (Fla. 1st DCA 2014) (explaining that "the determinative point in time separating prospective from retroactive application of an enactment is the date the `cause of action' accrues," which is the date that a party has the right to sue (quoting Prejean v. Dixie Lloyds Ins. Co., 660 So.2d 836, 837 (La.1995))).
Moreover, after the Supreme Court issued its opinion in Wos v. E.M.A. ex rel. Johnson, ___ U.S. ___, 133 S.Ct. 1391, 185 L.Ed.2d 471 (2013), Florida courts held that the preamendment version of section 409.910(11)(f) was preempted by the Medicaid Act to the extent it required payment beyond that shown to be for medical
"[T]o render the mandamus a proper remedy, the officer to whom it is to be directed, must be one to whom, on legal principles, such writ may be directed; and the person applying for it must be without any other specific and legal remedy." Marbury v. Madison, 1 Cranch 137, 5 U.S. 137, 169, 2 L.Ed. 60 (1803); see also Ledger v. City of St. Petersburg, 135 So.3d 496, 497 (Fla. 2d DCA 2014) ("A writ of mandamus is used to enforce an established legal right by compelling a public officer or agency to perform a duty required by law." (quoting Lee Cnty. v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 634 So.2d 250, 251 (Fla. 2d DCA 1994))). Here, Suarez does not have a clear legal right to have her dispute resolved in the circuit court on these facts. Nor is the circuit court required by law to maintain jurisdiction over these proceedings. Should Suarez wish to pursue her challenges to the 2013 version of section 409.910, she may do so within the agency proceedings.
Accordingly, we deny the petition.
WALLACE, SLEET, and LUCAS, JJ., Concur.