Illinois months behind on Medicaid payments
QUINCY, IL -- Illinois could collect nearly $471 million from President Barack Obama's decision to release Medicaid money included in the federal stimulus package.
Obama announced Monday that states will soon get $15 billion for their Medicaid programs.
Many states are having trouble paying their Medicaid bills.
In Illinois alone, the backlog reached $1.6 billion last fall and could be higher now.
The state is almost 6 months behind in paying the Good Samaritan Home in Quincy.
That equals about $620,000, which is a big chunk of change for a facility that has a third of its residents on public aid.
Many area nursing homes have an even higher number of residents on public aid.
We asked an associate administrator at the Good Samaritan Home about what the stimulus money would mean for its facility.
Associate Administrator Judy Graham says, "Basically, they're looking at a 6.2 percent increase in the match that the federal government will give the states. Hopefully, that will make a difference in the fact that it'll shorten the payment cycles that are part of the stimulus package. They should be shortening those to a 90-day turnaround."
Graham says the Good Samaritan Home is in pretty good financial shape.
But that's not often the case for a lot of other nursing homes in the area, many of which are having to borrow money to continue serving residents.
(Some information from The Associated Press)
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