(a)

1. (1) The Department of Human Services shall conduct business only with responsible participants.

2. (2) Participants will be excluded from participation in department programs to protect:

   1. (A) Public funds;
   2. (B) The integrity of publicly funded programs; and
   3. (C) Public confidence in those programs.
3. (3) It is also the intent of this policy to prevent excluded participants from substituting others in their place, usually accomplished through related parties, as surrogates to continue the practices that caused the department or the Office of Medicaid Inspector General to exclude the participant.

(b)

1. (1) Participant exclusion is a serious action that shall be used only in the state’s best interests and for the protection of:

   1. (A) The public;
   2. (B) Public programs; and
   3. (C) The department.
2. (2) The department and the office shall impose exclusion only in accordance with this part.