An audit issued today shows Illinois government could not properly account for more than seven billion dollars paid to private medical insurance companies.
It comes as Governor Bruce Rauner's administration is planning to expand the program.
Medicaid is Illinois' health care program for the elderly, poor and disabled. And the Rauner administration wants more of it run by private insurance.
But Democratic Rep. Fred Crespo, from Hoffman Estates, says these Managed Care Organizations, or MCOs, are squeezing patients.
"There is no doubt that the department has been very MCO-friendly at the expense of the people who use the services.”
The audit suggests that is a real possibility. It shows the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family
Services could not come up with basic information on the MCOs — like what they spent on administrative
costs, how many claims had been denied, or whether the state had overpaid.
