(a) The department, in its reasonable discretion, may execute one or more at-risk performance contracts to identify, quantify, or recover, or any combination thereof, Medi-Cal payments from responsible third parties and carriers that may be subject to a claim for reimbursement.

(b) Priority, by the terms of the contract or contracts, shall be given to the identification and recovery of claims nearing the statute of limitation, prior adjudicated claims, and prior existing injury claims. However, all claims that are older, in whole or part, than 12 months, at the time of discovery and notification by the contractor to the department, shall be subject to contractual lien recovery unless departmental personnel have previously identified these claims and have filed appropriate liens, notices, or other payment demands. A claim arises and the 12-month period begins when the department or its fiscal agent has first made payment for medical services related to the personal or workers’ compensation action on behalf of a given recipient. The department may waive any time requirement, if it concludes that it will not otherwise discover the claim and be able to effect recovery.

(c) To implement this section, the department may contract with public or private entities. Contracts or amendments entered into under this section may be on an exclusive or nonexclusive basis, and on a noncompetitive bid basis. The contracts and amendments shall be exempt from all of the following:

(1) Part 2 (commencing with Section 10100) of Division 2 of the Public Contract Code and any policies, procedures, or regulations authorized by that part.

(2) Article 4 (commencing with Section 19130) of Chapter 5 of Part 2 of Division 5 of Title 2 of the Government Code.

(3) Review or approval of contracts by the Department of General Services.

(Amended by Stats. 2017, Ch. 52, Sec. 39. (SB 97) Effective July 10, 2017.)