Are you waiting for a Medicaid application to be approved? Well, you’re not alone. In a letter to the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services from the federal CMS agency, the State Medicaid agency was notified that it is in violation of federal law since it has not promptly approved medical applications for its applicants. The letter specifically cited ongoing and persistent delays and the State’s inability to complete Medicaid determinations within required periods of time. Approximately 35% of long term care Medicaid appeals were not decided within the federally mandated time of 90 days. Since January 2017, over 96,000 applications have been pending for over 45 days with 81,953 applications pending over 90 days.
The State is required to submit a corrective action plan to the federal government. The State’s failure to do so will result in a compliance proceeding being initiated and a potential loss of federal funding for the State of Illinois.