Blago’s Floundering Health Care Agency

June 18th, 2008 at 11:32am Aaron Chambers

Illinois Auditor General Bill Holland today took another whack at the state’s dysfunctional Department of Healthcare and Family Services. For starters, Holland’s audit said the department was slow to provide its financial statements to auditors.

From his audit summary:

The Department did not provide the auditors with timely and accurate financial statements. Financial reporting matters were first brought to the Department’s attention on June 19, 2007. On May 27, 2008 the Department ultimately agreed with the accounting presentation recommended by the State Comptroller and the Office of the Auditor General.

The Department’s actions resulted in significant delays in the financial reporting process, were dilatory and were a disservice to the users of the State’s financial reports.

The Department made inappropriate payments of Workers’ Compensation Act claims from its appropriation for health care coverage. These payments totaled approximately $20 million.

The Department did not pay the fiscal year 2007 hospital improvement access payments on a timely basis. All fiscal year 2007 payments totaling $1.2 billion were paid on September 25, 2007.

The Department did not require Cook County to comply with an Intergovernmental Agreement that was executed between the Department and the County. Cook County owed the Department $10 million at June 30, 2007.

The Department did not exercise adequate internal control over voucher processing. A total of $1.6 million in 2008 medical services was paid from fiscal year 2007 appropriations. Further, an estimated $17.6 million in interest is owed to medical providers at June 30, 2007.

The Department did not pay interest on intercepted State income tax refunds. The Key Information System is not capable of automatically calculating interest on intercepted State income tax refunds.

Holland is on a roll.

Entry Filed under: Health Care, Rod Blagojevich