Sec. 4a-12. (Formerly Sec. 4-68a). Collection services performed by Commissioner of Administrative Services. Referral of debt for collection. Liable relatives.

(a) The Commissioner of Administrative Services shall be responsible for the following: (1) Investigation, determination, billing and collection of all charges for support of persons aided, cared for or treated in a state humane institution, as defined in section 17b-222, and enforcement of support obligations of the liable relatives of such persons; (2) investigation, determination, billing and collection of all charges for services covered under the Medicaid or Medicare programs provided to persons aided, cared for or treated by the Department of Veterans Affairs; (3) billing and collection of any money due to the state in public assistance cases, and enforcement of support obligations of liable relatives in such cases; (4) collection of benefits and maintenance of trustee accounts therefor; and (5) such collection services for other state agencies and departments as shall be agreed to between said commissioner and the heads of such other agencies and departments.

(b) Any debt referred to the Department of Administrative Services by a state agency may be referred by the commissioner to a consumer collection agency, licensed under section 36a-801, or, with the approval of the Attorney General, to an attorney admitted under the provisions of section 51-80 who practices in the area of debt collection, for collection, provided the debtor has been given at least thirty days' notice that the debt will be so referred.

(c) For purposes of this section, “liable relative” means the husband or wife of any person receiving public assistance or aided, cared for or treated in a state humane institution, as defined in said section 17b-222, and the father and mother of any such person under the age of eighteen years, but shall not include the parent or parents whose financial liability for a child is determined by the Office of Child Support Services under subsection (b) of section 17b-179. The Commissioner of Administrative Services, in consultation with the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management, shall adopt regulations in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54 establishing: (1) A uniform contribution scale for liable relatives based upon ability to pay and the administrative feasibility of collecting such contributions, provided no such liable relative shall contribute an amount in excess of twelve per cent of the remainder, if any, after the state median income, adjusted for family size, has been deducted from such liable relative's taxable income for federal income tax purposes, or if such federal income tax information is unavailable, from such relative's taxable income, as calculated from other sources, including, but not limited to, information pertaining to wages, salaries and commissions as provided by such relative's employer; (2) the manner in which the Department of Administrative Services shall determine and periodically reinvestigate the ability of such liable relatives to pay; and (3) the manner in which the department shall waive such contributions upon determination that such contribution would pose a significant financial hardship upon such liable relatives.

(d) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (c) of this section, no liability shall be imposed upon a liable relative upon determination by the Department of Developmental Services, Social Services, Children and Families, Mental Health and Addiction Services or Public Health that the benefit of the assistance or service provided would be significantly impaired by the imposition of such liability. Each such department may waive all or part of any liability resulting from its delay in establishing such liability if it determines that imposition of such liability would pose a significant financial hardship upon a liable relative.

(1967, P.A. 314, S. 1; P.A. 73-450; P.A. 75-430; P.A. 77-614, S. 86, 323, 610; P.A. 78-298, S. 7, 14; P.A. 87-421, S. 1, 13; P.A. 90-213, S. 16, 56; P.A. 91-57, S. 1; P.A. 92-79, S. 1; P.A. 93-91, S. 1, 2; 93-262, S. 1, 87; 93-381, S. 9, 39; 93-396, S. 14; May Sp. Sess. P.A. 94-5, S. 18, 30; P.A. 95-257, S. 5, 11, 12, 21, 58; P.A. 98-250, S. 13, 39; P.A. 99-2, S. 1, 2; 99-193, S. 2, 16; P.A. 00-115; P.A. 07-73, S. 2(a); June 12 Sp. Sess. P.A. 12-1, S. 105; P.A. 16-13, S. 2; 16-167, S. 15.)

History: P.A. 73-450 replaced Sec. 17-21 with Sec. 4-68g in Subdiv. (3), added Subdiv. (4) concerning collection services for other state agencies and deleted temporary provision concerning transfer of welfare department personnel to division of central collections; P.A. 75-430 added Subsec. (b) concerning transfer of debt to consumer collection agency for collection; P.A. 77-614 replaced commissioner of finance and control with commissioner of administrative services and department of health with department of health services, the latter, effective January 1, 1979; P.A. 78-298 deleted reference to collection of resources under Sec. 4-68q from Subdiv. (3); P.A. 87-421 added Subsecs. (c) and (d) re relatives' legal liability and amended Subsec. (a) by substituting “state humane institution, as defined in section 17-294” for “hospitals, institutions and facilities operated by the departments of health services and mental health” and by deleting a reference in Subsec. (a)(2) to “child welfare” cases; Sec. 4-68a transferred to Sec. 4a-12 in 1989; P.A. 90-213 inserted new Subdiv. (4) in Subsec. (a) providing the commissioner of administrative services with the responsibility for the billing and collection of child support payments in certain IV-D cases, renumbering former Subdiv. (4) as (5); P.A. 91-57 repealed provision in Subsec. (b) allowing commissioner to refer debt only to collection agency “maintaining an office in the country in which the debtor resides”; P.A. 92-79 amended Subsec. (c) to provide that a liable relative's taxable income may be determined from other sources if federal income tax information is unavailable; P.A. 93-91 substituted commissioner and department of children and families for commissioner and department of children and youth services, effective July 1, 1993; P.A. 93-262 authorized substitution of department of social services for department of income maintenance, effective July 1, 1993; P.A. 93-381 replaced Connecticut alcohol and drug abuse commission with department of public health and addiction services, effective July 1, 1993; P.A. 93-396 made a technical change in Subdiv. (4); May Sp. Sess. P.A. 94-5 deleted former Subsec. (a)(4) re billing and collection of any money due in IV-D cases and of any money due in non-IV-D spouse and child support cases made payable through the support enforcement division from the duties of the commissioner of administrative services, renumbering former Subdiv. (5) accordingly, effective July 1, 1994; P.A. 95-257 replaced Commissioner and Department of Public Health and Addiction Services with Commissioner and Department of Public Health and replaced Commissioner and Department of Mental Health with Commissioner and Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, effective July 1, 1995; P.A. 98-250 amended Subsec. (c)(1) to change limit on amount liable relative shall contribute from an amount in excess of 12% rather than 25%, substituted “the state median income” for “two hundred per cent of the federal poverty income guidelines” and added waiver authority in Subsec. (d), effective July 1, 1998; P.A. 99-2 amended Subsec. (b) by repealing condition that Department of Administrative Services be unable to collect debt for six months after referral by state agency before referring to a consumer collection agency, effective July 1, 1999; P.A. 99-193 amended Subsec. (c) by adding exception for parents whose financial liability is determined by the Bureau of Child Support Enforcement, effective July 1, 1999; P.A. 00-115 amended Subsec. (b) by permitting, with the approval of the Attorney General, collection of debt to be referred to attorney who practices in the area of debt collection; pursuant to P.A. 07-73 “Department of Mental Retardation” was changed editorially by the Revisors to “Department of Developmental Services”, effective October 1, 2007; June 12 Sp. Sess. P.A. 12-1 amended Subsec. (a) by adding new Subdiv. (2) re commissioner's responsibilities for charges for Medicaid and Medicare covered services provided to persons aided, cared for or treated by Department of Veterans' Affairs and redesignating existing Subdivs. (2) to (4) as Subdivs. (3) to (5), effective July 1, 2012; P.A. 16-13 amended Subsec. (c) to replace “Bureau of Child Support Enforcement” with “Office of Child Support Services”, effective May 6, 2016; P.A. 16-167 amended Subsec. (a) to replace “Department of Veterans' Affairs” with “Department of Veterans Affairs”, effective July 1, 2016.

Notation

See Sec. 38a-318a re information provided to commissioner re filed liability insurance claims.

Annotation to former section 4-68a:

Cited. 37 CS 825.