Wednesday, March 28, 2018

“Sloppiness Cannot be Tolerated”

Chicago, IL – After two state audits revealed Bruce Rauner mismanaged over a hundred million dollars in Medicaid payments, the State Journal-Register slammed the failed governor in an editorial:

State Journal-Register: Our View: Illinois Can’t Afford These Mistakes

Illinois remains a state with unrivaled financial woes. Its governmental agencies can’t just leave millions sitting on the table.

Yet two state audits — of the Department of Human Services and the Department of Healthcare and Family Services — found that Gov. Bruce Rauner’s administration didn’t recoup $76 million in overpayments to private Medicaid-program insurers dating back five years, as well as paid $71 million for Medicaid services without checking whether the clients were still eligible.

Given that the payments involve Medicaid managed care organizations, it’s critical this doesn’t happen again. MCOs, private insurance-run system for low-income and disabled residents, now handle 80 percent of the state’s 3.4 million Medicaid cases. Sloppiness cannot be tolerated when so many people are dependent on MCO-provided services. […]

We are not a state that can play fast and loose with money when Illinois remains in such a perilous fiscal condition. The state must move to recover the overpayments and figure out how to prevent it from happening again.

“While Bruce Rauner mismanages $76 million here and $71 million there, Illinoisans are still reeling from a manufactured budget crisis that cut off vital services across the state,” said Pritzker campaign spokeswoman Jordan Abudayyeh. “Illinois can’t afford a failed governor who wrecks state finances and destroys our safety net.”

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