SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) – An audit has found that a plan to save $500 million a year on state employee health insurance is instead costing $10 million extra annually and isn’t even providing the service promised.
Auditor General Frank Mautino reported Wednesday that the idea by former Gov. Bruce Rauner’s administration was so ill-conceived and hastily orchestrated that its original intent changed, deadlines were missed, rules for minority participation were skipped and the online benefits portal created had glitches.
State lawmakers ordered the audit of the $94 million, 10-year contract with Georgia-based Morneau Shepell after an Associated Press report on the problems in June 2017 .
The state has not implemented the cost-savings insurance marketplace it promised. And the audit found that the online portal could have been created in house.
