payments for services and care by a third party

payments for services and care by a third party Sec. 229. (a) Section 1902(a) of the Social Security Act (as amended by section 228 of this Act) is amended— (1) by striking out “and” at the end of paragraph (23); (2) by striking out the period at the end of paragraph (24) and inserting in lieu thereof and”; and (3) by inserting after paragraph (24) the following new paragraph: “(25) provide (A) that the State or local agency administering such plan will take all reasonable measures to ascertain the legal liability of third parties to pay for care and services (available under the plan) arising out of injury, disease, or disability, (B) that where the State or local agency knows that a third party has such a legal liability such agency will treat such legal liability as a resource of the individual on whose behalf the care and services are made available for purposes of paragraph (17)(B), and (C) that in any case where such a legal liability is found to exist after medical assistance has been made available on behalf of the individual, the State or local agency will seek reimbursement for such assistance to the extent of such legal liability.” (b) The amendment made by subsection (a) shall apply with respect to legal liabilities of third parties arising after March 31, 1968. (c) Section 1903(d)(2) of such Act is amended by adding at the end thereof the following new sentence: “Expenditures for which payments were made to the State under subsection (a) shall be treated 81 Stat. 905as an overpayment to the extent that the State or local agency administering such plan has been reimbursed for such expenditures by a third party pursuant to the provisions of its plan in compliance with section 1902(a)(25).”