Crespo to Governor: $7.11 Billion in Unaccounted Medicaid Bills are not 'Fake News'

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - State Rep. Fred Crespo, D-Hoffman Estates, issued the following statement after Gov. Bruce Rauner falsely claimed that the findings in the Illinois auditor general's report were fundamentally inaccurate:

"Governor Rauner has sunk to new low in his attempt to draw attention away from his negligence and incompetence as he smeared the audit's findings as fundamentally inaccurate and erroneous, or as Donald Trump would claim, 'fake news.' All the while, his very own Department of Healthcare and Family Services has already started implementing most of the auditor general's recommendations.

"It is beyond frustrating that the same man who just stood in front of the General Assembly to speak of fiscal discipline is disregarding over $7 billion in unaccounted Medicaid bills in this way. I believe the fact that HFS could not come up with complete data on what they spent on administrative costs, how many claims had been denied, or whether the state had overpaid calls for further investigation."