Increased revenues coming in to state coffers during tax season have allowed the Illinois Comptroller to release more than $800 million in payments for health care services.
Comptroller Susana Mendoza said Wednesday that the money will go to nearly a dozen managed-care operations in Illinois serving Medicaid patients, according to the State Journal-Register. Those organizations can use the money to pay doctors, hospitals and mental-health counselors.
In addition to the $800 million, the office says it also plans to issue more than $150 million in payments directly to hospitals Thursday.
The state of Illinois has a bill backlog of more than $11.8 billion due to the lack of a state budget. Democrats in the state Legislature and Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner have been at an impasse since June 2015.
