Third party benefits

(a) The Department may execute and maintain agreements with other public agencies and private entities to participate in reimbursement programs, including but not limited to Titles XVIII (Medicare) and XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act and the United States Department of Veterans' Affairs. (b) Each veteran, who the Commissioner determines may be eligible for reimbursements from a third party insurer or governmental program, is obligated to provide necessary information and fully cooperate with the Department in the application for and maintenance of such income, reimbursement or benefit. Failure to comply with this subsection shall be grounds for involuntary assignment of income and assets or involuntary discharge. (c) For any program administered by the Department of Veterans' Affairs for which the Department is a Medicaid provider, and for the purposes of determining order of liability, the state Department of Social Services, through the Medicaid program, shall be "payor of last resort" and all other payment sources shall be exhausted before any bill is presented to the Department of Social Services. (d) For any program administered by the Department of Veterans' Affairs for which the Department is a Medicaid provider, and in the event that a portion of the regulations of Connecticut state agencies is in conflict with the Department of Social Services' Uniform Policy Manual, as amended from time to time, the Department of Social Services regulation shall prevail. (e) The veteran shall, or shall cause his representative to, promptly file and claim income, assets and reimbursement due, and owed, or available to the veteran for payment of or reimbursement of expenditures made on his behalf or which may be claimed for services rendered to him. Sources covered by this subsection include, but shall be not limited to private insurance, a trust or any other arrangement under which the veteran is or could be a beneficiary, whether specifically named or not. (f) The veteran shall cooperate in any action, including making application, or preceding that can or may be brought for the purpose of making the veteran's income, asset or reimbursement available to meet the costs of his care. In the event that the veteran refuses or fails to cooperate in such efforts, the Commissioner may: (1) Apply for a conservatorship to accomplish these tasks; (2) Consider the failure to comply with the regulations of Connecticut state agencies as a ground for involuntary assignment of the same, or (3) Initiate a proceeding for involuntary discharge.