Illinois Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner has renewed his emphasis on finding waste in taxpayer-funded health care programs. Rauner appeared at a Chicago news conference to release a report from a task force he created in April to study the matter.
The group studied the best practices of agency fraud prevention units, the efforts of the federal government, state governments, and those in the private sector. But savings have been elusive so far.
The state removed about 6,000 dependents from the State Employee Group Insurance Program for eligibility issues such as divorced spouses and adult children. This resulted in $20 million in savings last fiscal year.
The employee group insurance program covers most of the state's employees, their dependents, and retirees. It costs taxpayers about $3 billion a year.
