Illinois’ Medicaid program has long been plagued with wasteful spending. The U.S. Government Accountability Office designates Medicaid as a high-risk program, largely because it is “particularly vulnerable to fraud, waste, abuse and improper payments” and has inadequate oversight to prevent wasteful spending. Indeed, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, or HHS, reports an improper payment...

For the past several months, the Illinois Policy Institute has published ongoing updates on the progress of the Illinois Medicaid Redetermination Project, or IMRP, which has garnered significant interest over time. Some people may not remember why IMRP was launched; I do. After all, this was among the many topics I discussed when the Medicaid...

For years, the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services, or HFS, has failed to take adequate steps to ensure the people actually receiving Medicaid benefits are eligible for the program. In 2012, for example, somewhere between 15 percent and 20 percent of Medicaid files were overdue for their annual eligibility checks. The auditor general noted that...