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IDHS uncovers a $601 million pile of found money

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Illinois

* Press release…

Following a comprehensive internal review of federal revenue reimbursements in the State’s Medicaid related programs, the Department of Healthcare and Family Services (HFS) and the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) identified a computer programming error that led to incomplete federal Medicaid match claims. While this delayed the receipt of a portion of federal funding match, the state is now pursuing this additional one-time federal reimbursement that is within the allowable federal funding window. There was no delay in payment to organizations providing services to individuals and this federal reimbursement delay did not postpone any implementation of developmental disability services.

After a multi-agency internal review of federal funding sources, the agencies impacted determined that a technical coding error delayed communication between IDHS and HFS to submit claims for federal Medicaid reimbursement for community-based services for people with developmental disabilities. Submission files to HFS for payments for service dates between the end of 2020 and June 2022, totaling $601 million in federal match, were impacted by the programming errors, or less than 2% of what HFS drew in federal revenues during that time period. Internal checks on the multi-agency process were missed during this period due to increased Medicaid spending and enhanced federal match rates that masked the delayed reimbursement.

The programming error has been corrected and IDHS has transferred the completed files to HFS so that HFS can submit outstanding claims to the federal government for reimbursement. The vast majority of the spending is still claimable and HFS will seek a federal waiver to process claims for a smaller number of older bills impacted. An additional $250-$300 million in federal claiming was delayed for the period in FY23 prior to when the programming fix was implemented. These amounts will also be claimed in FY24, though it is not unusual for federal claiming to include expenses from the prior fiscal year.

After studying the issue to gauge the scope of the bills impacted, IDHS and HFS alerted their external auditors to the delayed reimbursement found by the internal review as part of their annual financial audit process.

This is one-time Medicaid match cash.

posted by Rich Miller
Friday, Aug 11, 23 @ 1:09 pm

Comments

I knew I put that $601 million somewhere…

Comment by Local Person Friday, Aug 11, 23 @ 1:23 pm
=== less than 2%===

This is still a pretty significant computer programming error to miss. Phrasing it this way tries to down play it, but that’s a pretty major error.

How much did we lose? Or was all of it recovered?

Comment by Candy Dogood Friday, Aug 11, 23 @ 1:27 pm
Candy read the release. It’s all recoverable and they’re getting a waiver for a smaller number of bills. Also, they caught the error that auditors didn’t even catch, it is a small amount of money.

Comment by kk Friday, Aug 11, 23 @ 1:33 pm
After decades of abuse and coverup at Choate, now this $600 million dollar mistake. JB needs to reform IDHS and he should start by axing Grace Hou
Secretary, Illinois Department of Human Services.

Comment by Donnie Elgin Friday, Aug 11, 23 @ 1:36 pm
Was the pile of money by chance at a beach resort sitting next to a man holding a red stapler and margarita?

Comment by fs Friday, Aug 11, 23 @ 1:40 pm
Yeah Grace Hou is responsible for decades of abuse and cover ups at Choate. If it were up to her the place would be closed down. Unfortunately, that process isn’t easy in IL. Talk to the unions about that as they protect bad apples.

Comment by lol Friday, Aug 11, 23 @ 1:40 pm
Some consultant just got fired, another one just got hired.

Countdown to advocates saying the money should go to the migrant crisis in 3…2…1…

Comment by Just Me 2 Friday, Aug 11, 23 @ 1:46 pm
It’s important to understand this more fully, especially for stakeholders in service. What is the full scope of the funding, when is it recovered, in what form could spending take, over how many fiscal years, etc.

This is a significant amount of one time funding that could be used in many ways to invest in the full I/DD service array in Illinois.

We look forward to having discussions soon.

Also, the Secretary Hou comments - unwarranted. She is among the best agency leaders I’ve ever had the chance to work with.

Comment by Josh Evans Friday, Aug 11, 23 @ 1:47 pm
“Yeah Grace Hou is responsible for decades of abuse”

She has been in senior positions at IDHS going back to 2003 - so while she may not be directly responsible for the abuse but she should be held accountable.

“Grace B. Hou has served under Governor JB Pritzker as the Secretary of the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) since March 2019….also previously served as the Assistant Secretary at IDHS from 2003 to 2012″

Comment by Donnie Elgin Friday, Aug 11, 23 @ 1:47 pm
===Candy read the release.===

I think we read government press releases with different levels of cynicism. It doesn’t state the period provided was the only period that was impacted.

Comment by Candy Dogood Friday, Aug 11, 23 @ 1:51 pm
Yeah the Pritzker admin didn’t have to send this press release at all with all of the information in it, but sure, they’re definitely lying and covering things up. That always works out well for people in government. lololol

Comment by kk Friday, Aug 11, 23 @ 1:56 pm
It says the “vast majority” is recoverable. Meaning some is NOT. I’d like numbers, please

Comment by Perrid Friday, Aug 11, 23 @ 2:45 pm
The feds may or may not be kind and grant them their waiver, but I’d like to know what we stand to lose if it’s rejected

Comment by Perrid Friday, Aug 11, 23 @ 2:46 pm
Choate would have been closed long ago. The last attempt to close Choate was prevented by John Bradley; Gary Forby and Brandon Phelps. I was told by a former high ranking DHS employee that she tried to close Choate in 1999, but the Legislators stopped it. Let’s understand reality on here, not fantasy.

Comment by Former State Employee Friday, Aug 11, 23 @ 2:56 pm
Dear Perrid, The Rules prevent the claiming of costs greater than 24 months old. Unless there is a special COVID rule. This occurred because the State is not being managed by adults.

Don’t think Auditors are going to catch all errors and irregularities. They do limited test work, primarily to insure the checks and balances of an accounting system are authorized and processed correctly. Identifying there was extra Federal match available may not be on their Checklist. So I don’t buy the argument that even the Auditors didn’t catch it. They are not program experts drawing down $2 billion a month in Washington money.

Comment by Al Friday, Aug 11, 23 @ 3:19 pm
Someone once told me that Illinois has historically been absolutely terrible about getting money from the feds that it is entitled too. Just a lot of sloppy paperwork or coding errors, blowing deadlines, and other unforced errors.

I’m not going to try to blame one administration, or specific causes, but it seems like basic things like accurate record keeping and timely filings have not been historic strengths of our state government.

Comment by Homebody Friday, Aug 11, 23 @ 3:51 pm