(a) The Commissioner of Social Services shall establish annually the cost of services for which payment is to be made under the provisions of section 17b-239. All hospitals receiving state aid shall submit their cost data under oath on forms approved by the commissioner. The commissioner may adopt, in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54, regulations concerning the submission of data by institutions and agencies to which payments are to be made under sections 17b-239, 17b-243, 17b-244, 17b-340, 17b-341 and section 17b-343, and the defining of policies utilized by the commissioner in establishing rates under said sections, which data and policies are necessary for the efficient administration of said sections. The commissioner shall provide, upon request, a statement of interpretation of the Medicaid cost-related reimbursement system regulations for long-term care facilities reimbursed under section 17b-340 concerning allowable and unallowable costs or expenditures. Such statement of interpretation shall not be construed to constitute a regulation violative of chapter 54. Failure of such statement of interpretation to address a specific unallowable cost or expenditure fact pattern shall in no way prevent the commissioner from enforcing all applicable laws and regulations.

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(b) Any institution or agency to which payments are to be made under sections 17b-239 to 17b-246, inclusive, and sections 17b-340 and 17b-343 which is aggrieved by any decision of said commissioner may, within ten days after written notice thereof from the commissioner, obtain, by written request to the commissioner, a rehearing on all items of aggrievement. On and after July 1, 1996, a rehearing shall be held by the commissioner or his designee, provided a detailed written description of all such items is filed within ninety days of written notice of the commissioner’s decision. The rehearing shall be held within thirty days of the filing of the detailed written description of each specific item of aggrievement. The commissioner shall issue a final decision within sixty days of the close of evidence or the date on which final briefs are filed, whichever occurs later. Any designee of the commissioner who presides over such rehearing shall be impartial and shall not be employed within the Department of Social Services office of certificate of need and rate setting. Any such items not resolved at such rehearing to the satisfaction of either such institution or agency or said commissioner shall be submitted to binding arbitration to an arbitration board consisting of one member appointed by the institution or agency, one member appointed by the commissioner and one member appointed by the Chief Court Administrator from among the retired judges of the Superior Court, which retired judge shall be compensated for his services on such board in the same manner as a state referee is compensated for his services under section 52-434. The proceedings of the arbitration board and any decisions rendered by such board shall be conducted in accordance with the provisions of the Social Security Act, 49 Stat. 620 (1935), 42 USC 1396, as amended from time to time, and chapter 54.

(c) The submission of any false or misleading fiscal information or data to said commissioner shall be grounds for suspension of payments by the state under sections 17b-239 to 17b-246, inclusive, and sections 17b-340 and 17b-343 in accordance with regulations adopted by said commissioner. In addition, any person, including any corporation, who knowingly makes or causes to be made any false or misleading statement or who knowingly submits false or misleading fiscal information or data on the forms approved by the commissioner shall be guilty of a class D felony.

(d) Said commissioner, or any agent authorized by the commissioner to conduct any inquiry, investigation or hearing under the provisions of this section, shall have power to administer oaths and take testimony under oath relative to the matter of inquiry or investigation. At any hearing ordered by the commissioner, the commissioner or such agent having authority by law to issue such process may subpoena witnesses and require the production of records, papers and documents pertinent to such inquiry. If any person disobeys such process or, having appeared in obedience thereto, refuses to answer any pertinent question put to him by the commissioner or his authorized agent or to produce any records and papers pursuant thereto, the commissioner or his agent may apply to the superior court for the judicial district of Hartford or for the judicial district wherein the person resides or wherein the business has been conducted, or to any judge of said court if the same is not in session, setting forth such disobedience to process or refusal to answer, and said court or such judge shall cite such person to appear before said court or such judge to answer such question or to produce such records and papers.