Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner (R) signed an executive order Tuesday creating a task force to eliminate and prevent fraud, waste and abuse in taxpayer-funded healthcare programs.
The state spends more than $19 billion on Medicaid and the State Employee Group Health Insurance Programs and fraud causes these costs to increase. The aim of the Health Care Fraud Elimination Task Force is to study and utilize best practices used by the federal government, other state governments and the private sector to root out this abuse.
"Reducing fraud and waste is critical in state government to ensure we are delivering the best value to consumers and taxpayers," Gov. Rauner said, according to a press release. "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 include the following members, in addition to Executive Inspector General Maggie Hickey, who will serve as chairman.
- 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 Innovation and Technology
- Director of the Department of Insurance
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