(a)
When benefits are provided or will be provided to a beneficiary under this chapter because of an injury for which another person is liable, or for which a carrier is liable in accordance with the provisions of any policy of insurance issued pursuant to Insurance Code Section 11580.2, the director shall have a right to recover from such person or carrier the reasonable value of benefits so provided. The Attorney General, or counsel for the fiscal intermediary under the Medi-Cal program with the permission of the Attorney General, or a contractor pursuant to Section 14124.80, or a county through its civil legal adviser, may, to enforce such right, institute and prosecute legal proceedings against the third person or carrier who may be liable for the injury in an appropriate court, either in the name of the director or in the name of the injured person, his guardian, conservator, personal representative, estate, or survivors.(b)
The director may:(1)
Compromise, or settle and release any such claim, or(2)
Waive any such claim, in whole or in part, for the convenience of the director, or if the director determines that collection would result in undue hardship upon the person who suffered the injury, or in a wrongful death action upon the heirs of the deceased.(c)
No action taken in behalf of the director pursuant to this section or any judgment rendered in such action shall be a bar to any action upon the claim or cause of action of the beneficiary, his guardian, conservator, personal representative, estate, dependents, or survivors against the third person who may be liable for the injury, or shall operate to deny to the beneficiary the recovery for that portion of any damages not covered hereunder.(d)
The cost of a service provided to an eligible developmentally disabled Medi-Cal beneficiary under Section 14132.44 may be recovered by the director from a liable third person or an insurance carrier.
Source:
Section 14124.71, https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=WIC§ionNum=14124.71..