14124.71. (Amended by Stats. 2017, Ch. 52, Sec. 31.)

(a) When benefits are provided or will be provided to a beneficiary under this chapter because of an injury for which another party is liable, or for which a carrier is liable in accordance with the provisions of any policy of insurance issued pursuant to Section 11580.2 of the Insurance Code, the director shall have a right to recover from such a party 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 party 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 in whole or in part with any such party or carrier, 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.