Auditor General reports $1.5 billion unpaid medical claims

We knew things were bad, but today's Auditor General report on how the state of Illinois is paying its Medicaid bill is stunning.  From today's report found here:

• Medicaid claims received in each of the past four fiscal years, when added to unpaid bills carried over from the prior year, have exceeded the funds available to timely pay providers. On average, from FY05 – FY07, $1.5 billion of unpaid medical claims have been carried over into the next fiscal year.
• HFS could not document how payment schedules and payment parameters used to make Medicaid payments were established.
• In FY06, it took HFS an average of 6 days to process claims; however, it took HFS an average of 57 days to submit claims to the Comptroller for payment.
• HFS used a poorly defined and documented process to expedite $5.7 million in “one-time drop” payments to providers in FY07.
• In CY06, it took HFS an average of 87 days to notify nonexpedited providers of a rejected service when the rejected service was submitted on a claim along with a service that was paid.
• In 2006, HFS used 123 error codes to notify providers of rejected services that were not listed in HFS’ provider handbook.

Comments

[Frank Goudy]

Medicaid has grown from $1 billion in 1980 to $2 billion in 1990 to $6 billion in 2000 to over $13 billion in 2008.

Over 40% of the births in the state are paid by Medicaid. How many to illegals is not known because the state does not want to know. How many of the total Medicaid births are the result of illegitimacy is not known. You would think the G.A. would want to know the answer to these two questions and make such information available to the public- Ha! Ha!

In addition, over 40% of the Illinois Medicaid expenditures are optional and not required by the federal govt. to receive matching funds.

And of course, Blago keeps expanding the program by using children as social blackmail in his public addresses and then adding entire families through the backdoor. AllKids also allows illegals to get on Medicaid. You say that is illegal. Not in the "Sanctuary State" of Illinois. How? Check the forms and you will see that citizenship/legal residency questions are not asked. Purposely done that way.

But get used to it. Illinois is a Blue State and no longer a swing state. And Illinois demographics by both higher birth rates among poverty/low income individuals as well as immigration will seek to ensure that, with a few exceptions, into the future. These trends have been developing in Illinois for nearly 30 years and now have become obvious to everyone but those with their head in the sand. Good news for the poverty pandering politicians.

[rightwinger]

Even though it will be tough due to a lot family, friends, and ties to the area. I am seriously considering moving out of state in the future. Maybe when I decide to move to the next job will be the facilitator.

There are still good areas, but it is weighted down by the areas that Frank described above, but it is mostly due to the pandering politicans.