* Press release…
Governor Bruce Rauner announced today he signed Executive Order 16-05 creating the Health Care Fraud Elimination Task Force. The Task Force will take a holistic and comprehensive approach in the prevention and elimination of health care fraud, waste and abuse in taxpayer-funded programs. Governor Rauner made today’s announcement at the Annual Ethics Officer Conference, hosted by the Executive Ethics Commission.
“Reducing fraud and waste is critical in state government to ensure we are delivering the best value to consumers and taxpayers,” Governor Rauner said. “For the first time, we are bringing program-specific and agency efforts together to collaborate and take a multi-pronged approach to preventing and eliminating fraud, waste, and abuse.”
The Task Force will study and utilize the best practices of these agency fraud prevention units, the efforts of the federal government and other state governments, and those in the private sector to root out fraud, waste, and abuse.
The costs of state-administered health care programs are driven up when abuse of the system goes unchecked. Annually, Illinois spends more than $19 billion on state-administered Medicaid programs and the State Employee Group Health Insurance Programs.
The Executive Inspector General Maggie Hickey will serve as Chairman of the Task Force, which will be made up of the following representatives:
· Deputy Governor
· Chief Compliance Officer
· Special Counsel and Policy Advisor to the Governor for Healthcare and Human Services
· Inspector General for the Department of Healthcare and Family Services
· Director of the State Police Medicaid Fraud Control Unit
· Director of the Department on Aging
· Director of the Department of Central Management Services
· Director of the Department of Healthcare and Family Services
· Secretary of the Department of the Human Services
· Secretary of the Department of Information Technology
· Director of the Department of Insurance
Today’s action is another step Governor Rauner has taken to ensure the most ethical and transparent Administration in state history. During the Governor’s first week in office, he signed Executive Order 15-09 to strengthen ethical standards for the Executive Branch. He also signed Executive Order 16-04 to update and strengthen the Executive Branch’s internal investigation system.
* After unveiling his plan, the governor took questions from reporters and actually avoided some invitations to whack the General Assembly. Have a listen…
- DuPage - Tuesday, Apr 5, 16 @ 12:56 pm:
Fraud? The state is guilty of fraud by not paying providers for services contracts. This is literally putting many of them out of business.
- Huh? - Tuesday, Apr 5, 16 @ 1:04 pm:
“Today’s action is another step Governor Rauner has taken to ensure the most ethical and transparent Administration in state history.”
Oxymoron alert!
Rauner, ethical and transparent used in same sentence.
Oxymoron alert!
- Out Here In The Middle - Tuesday, Apr 5, 16 @ 1:08 pm:
Tomorrow’s story: The Governor’s Health Care Fraud Elimination Task Force met for 15 minutes by phone and issued the following final report. “We have determined that the only way to completely eliminate fraud, waste and abuse in taxpayer-funded healthcare programs is to simply eliminate taxpayer-funded healthcare programs. As a result we recommend that Governor Rauner continue on his present course to eliminate all taxpayer-funded services.” /s
- Norseman - Tuesday, Apr 5, 16 @ 1:21 pm:
Are we going to hear leader Durkin ask where the money is to pay for this initiative? No, because this is simply a press pop to make Rauner look like he’s doing something when he’s not.
“Don’t Mistake Activity for Achievement” John Wooden.
- The Captain - Tuesday, Apr 5, 16 @ 1:22 pm:
A properly functioning opposition party would have immediately released a number of the Governor’s quotes from the campaign including his promise that he could balance the budget with his business acumen and specifically that the temporary tax increase should expire because he could then balance the budget by eliminating waste, fraud and abuse. Then they’d point out that we’re almost a year with no budget and a year plus into his term and he’s now only appointing a task force to study waste, fraud and abuse.
- Annonin' - Tuesday, Apr 5, 16 @ 1:57 pm:
Never forget when COPies went after work comp fraud they caught biz bosses…look out Med Society the BigBrains coming at ya
- Anonymous - Tuesday, Apr 5, 16 @ 2:05 pm:
Despite the cynicism shown here, this COULD be a …….oh, forget it.
- Oswego Willy - Tuesday, Apr 5, 16 @ 2:09 pm:
===“Don’t Mistake Activity for Achievement” John Wooden.===
Yep.
A task force is activity, rarely gaining achievement.
Also, with that $19 Billion at play, how much of a “savings” needs to be realized to claim… victory?
Coach Wooden wouldn’t be too impressed without knowing the end game.
- Mama - Tuesday, Apr 5, 16 @ 2:41 pm:
No where is Rauner’s definition of ” fraud, waste, and abuse” defined.
- Mama - Tuesday, Apr 5, 16 @ 2:42 pm:
Rich, isn’t it Franks’s job to weed out fraud, waste, and abuse in state government?
- Thoughts Matter - Tuesday, Apr 5, 16 @ 3:04 pm:
Paying 9% interest per year because you are 15 months behind paying employees insurance claims sounds like waste. Not paying the claims sounds a lot like abuse and ought to be considered fraud- bad faith claim handling. There, have at it, committee.
- RNUG - Tuesday, Apr 5, 16 @ 3:32 pm:
Rearranging chairs on the deck of the Titanic …
- zatoichi - Tuesday, Apr 5, 16 @ 4:48 pm:
This group of bureacrats will root out fraud, waste, and abuse? OK. Seeing the state has paid $900M in late payment fees, maybe a good first step is the state pay its bills on time.
- Jerry's Pizza - Tuesday, Apr 5, 16 @ 7:24 pm:
Why are state employees who pay health insurance premiums, for health insurance claims that are not being paid, combined into the same pool as people who commit Medicaid fraud? How are these two things related? This is so offensive, to the people who do the work of the state, in so many ways. Why do the state employees continue to be the villains?
- cdog - Wednesday, Apr 6, 16 @ 8:17 am:
Finally listened to this.
I wish the reporters would bring up these facts –
FY15 dem budget had significant cuts, as did previous years’ budgets.
Poison pills like strange and extreme collective bargaining language are a stumbling block to compromise.
Legislature had many votes on property tax with Rauner bricks. Lots of good wc ideas.
He is not in a position to have pure Rauner ideology in bill form.