ILL-inois: $12 million paid in medical benefits to 3,000 dead persons

When I travel I get asked about the tradition of dead people voting in Chicago elections. I tell them, truthfully, the problem isn't as bad as it used to be.

Statewide, there is a new problem: dead people receiving medical benefits. And no, I'm not talking about bill incurred before people die.

From the Quad City Times:

Illinois paid $12 million in medical costs last year for nearly 3,000 people who were actually dead, Auditor General William Holland reported Thursday.

In an audit of the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services, Holland said workers at the agency failed to match up death records with the lists of people receiving taxpayer-funded medical benefits, resulting in millions of dollars being paid out to insure people who had been dead for more than two months.

"We recommended the Department improve its system of controls to ensure death dates for current enrollees are entered into its eligibility system and ensure that deceased individuals are not enrolled in managed care," Holland wrote.

Although the agency said it has taken action to correct the problems, auditors could not verify whether the state has recovered any of the money, the report said.

Who has been fired? Who has been prosecuted?

No one!

Illinois, by the way, is burdened by $5.6 billion in unpaid bills.

And the libs here say there is no room for budget cuts...

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