Capitol Fax.com - Your Illinois News Radar

Voucher update

Posted in:

Illinois

* From the comptroller’s office…

Our oldest regular vouchers are from 23 August 2013, 24 working days in arrears.
Our oldest medical vouchers are from 6 August 2013, 37 working days in arrears.

It’s important to note that those dates only reflect when the vouchers arrived here - and do not account for the time they were held at the agencies before being submitted to the Comptroller’s Office.

There are also bills still being held at agencies right now that may date back further.

We definitely need some more transparency out of the Quinn administration. Perhaps a law to force him to disclose exactly how he’s “managing” vouchers, or something.

posted by Rich Miller
Friday, Oct 4, 13 @ 10:22 am

Comments

What vouchers??

Comment by Just Observing Friday, Oct 4, 13 @ 10:27 am
On behalf of every Medicaid provider in the state, a resounding YES!!

Comment by anon Friday, Oct 4, 13 @ 10:28 am
Still, apples to apples, weren’t vouchers averaging in the eight or nine-month range a couple of years ago?

Comment by wordslinger Friday, Oct 4, 13 @ 10:29 am
I was wondering the same thing. Sounds pretty good, if accurate, of course. What fiscal crisis?

Comment by Cassandra Friday, Oct 4, 13 @ 10:32 am
Quinn….transparent?

Comment by Just Me Friday, Oct 4, 13 @ 10:34 am
Agency vouchers are kept right next to his underwear in the fridge at the mansion.

Comment by Michelle Flaherty Friday, Oct 4, 13 @ 10:41 am
Do the “regular” vouchers include payments to school districts and universities, or transfers to other funds that are distributed to local governments?

Bills held at agencies include those still being processed, which is a natural course of doing business - but they also include bills that can’t be submitted to the Comptroller due to lack of (a) appropriation authority or (b) cash in the fund from which the bills are to be paid. Issue (b) applies to employee health insurance, which has a backlog somewhat over $1 billion dating back many months.

Comment by cover Friday, Oct 4, 13 @ 10:56 am
It’s only on a yearly basis, but isn’t this what we’re talking about?

http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/publicacts/98/PDF/098-0228.pdf

Comment by Anyone Remember? Friday, Oct 4, 13 @ 10:58 am
Or a different governor who’s more inclined to transparency. Who that might be, I don’t know, but I’ve always liked the two party system better than the one party system.

Comment by Excessively Rabid Friday, Oct 4, 13 @ 12:08 pm
Dose of reality - my providers are actually PAID through about the end of November 2012. They don’t much care where in the process their bill is or why it’s being held up. They reality of the matter is that ALL of my med bills are still 10 months behind.

(This is, however, a ten week improvement from the beginning of summer.)

Comment by Realist Friday, Oct 4, 13 @ 12:23 pm
I brought up the health bills as an example of what @cover said - despite what the press release implies, there are plenty of old bills out there waiting to be paid.

I find it amusing that the announcement says there are bills at agencies that “may” date back further, when they know darn well there are and should have said so and given those stats.

Comment by Realist Friday, Oct 4, 13 @ 12:29 pm
===the press release===

It’s not a press release.

Comment by Rich Miller Friday, Oct 4, 13 @ 12:34 pm
Thanks for the correction.

Comment by Realist Friday, Oct 4, 13 @ 12:51 pm
=== We definitely need some more transparency out of the Quinn administration. ===

Kudos to the Comptroller’s office, meanwhile, for consistently being responsive to these requests for info from CapFax. Like @wordslinger mentions, it feels like we’ve been getting these updates for a while now and whether the processing time is 30 days or 30 years, they provide the info.

Dear Governor Quinn: “More like this, please.”

Comment by Formerly Known As... Friday, Oct 4, 13 @ 2:08 pm
This ability to hold vouchers seems to me to be a double edged sword. Talking Medicaid, if you can hold vouchers and delay payments, maybe you prevent rate cuts that impact direct services since you don’t have sufficient appropriations to pay your liabilities.

I think with this most recent budget, we’ve turned a corner on this.

Then I remember the income tax level is phasing down January 1st.

Comment by Waffle Fries Friday, Oct 4, 13 @ 2:30 pm
Amen–more transparency needed!

Comment by Just The Way It Is One Friday, Oct 4, 13 @ 3:44 pm