Illinois GOP legislators demanded an audit which found taxpayers paid out an insanely high $1.6 billion for healthcare programs for not only illegal immigrants, but also U.S. citizens who would have been eligible for other federal programs.
“This audit shows that the governor, that the program was rampant in overspending. It spent well in excess of 200% more than what was estimated in budgets and in appropriations,” state Senate Republican leader John Curran told Fox News Digital in an interview. In a press conference, Curran chastised Democrat Governor JB Spritzer, stating the audit revealed his administration’s “gross mismanagement.”
Fox News reports:
Illinois Auditor General Frank J. Mautino flagged more than 6,000 people listed as “undocumented” in the programs but who had Social Security numbers, and some of those individuals may actually be legal permanent residents who are eligible for Medicaid, meaning the state could get federal funding for them. The state reviewed 94 cases and found that 19 should have been classified as legal residents instead of noncitizens.
There were also nearly 700 people in the senior health program who were under 65. A review confirmed that many of the errors were due to incorrect birth dates, which were corrected later.
Nearly 400 enrollees appeared to have been in the country for more than five years and should have qualified for Medicaid, the audit also found. The state acknowledged that some of those people were enrolled incorrectly, which cost the state federal matching funds. The report recommended that the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services seek federal reimbursement for the lost funds.
“The state of Illinois, state taxpayers, should not be burdened with providing free healthcare, especially for [the] working-age population. People that should be out and working in paying taxes and getting healthcare in the marketplace, just like every other Illinois state taxpayer is doing, so we want to bring the program to an end.”
