(a)  The department shall furnish medical care benefits to eligible beneficiaries through a direct vendor payment plan. The plan shall include, but need not be limited to, any or all of the following benefits, which benefits shall be contracted for by the director:

(1)  Inpatient hospital services, other than services in a hospital, institution, or facility for tuberculosis or mental diseases;

(2)  Nursing services for the period of time as the director shall authorize;

(3)  Visiting nurse service;

(4)  Drugs for consumption either by inpatients or by other persons for whom they are prescribed by a licensed physician;

(5)  Dental services; and

(6)  Hospice care up to a maximum of two hundred and ten (210) days as a lifetime benefit.

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(b)  For purposes of this chapter, the payment of federal Medicare premiums or other health insurance premiums by the department on behalf of eligible beneficiaries in accordance with the provisions of Title XIX of the federal Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. § 1396 et seq., shall be deemed to be a direct vendor payment.

(c)  [Deleted by P.L. 2021, ch. 162, art. 12, § 2.]

(d)  [Deleted by P.L. 2021, ch. 162, art. 12, § 2.]

(e)  No state agency shall pay a vendor for medical benefits provided to a recipient of assistance under this chapter until and unless the vendor has submitted a claim for payment to a commercial insurance plan, Medicare, and/or a Medicaid managed care plan, if applicable for that recipient, in that order. This includes payments for skilled nursing and therapy services specifically outlined in Chapters 7, 8, and 15 of the Medicare Benefit Policy Manual.