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IL Officials Launch Effort to Check Medicaid Eligibility

Illinois officials are launching an effort to ensure the only people that receive Medicaid are those eligible. The eligibility checks include an annual verification of income levels and residency of the state’s 2.7 million Medicaid clients. Virginia-based Maximus Incorporated began the work Wednesday that aims to improve the system, eliminate a backlog and make recommendations to state caseworkers. Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services Director Julie Hamos says annual verification can determine whether people's circumstances have changed making them ineligible. Republican legislative leaders say Gov. Pat Quinn's administration has taken too long to get the project under way.

Whitney grew up listening to Car Talk to and from her family’s beach vacation each year, but it wasn’t until a friend introduced her to This American Life that radio really grabbed her attention. She is a recent graduate from Union University in Jackson, Tenn., where she studied journalism. When she’s not at WKMS, you can find her working on her backyard compost pile and garden, getting lost on her bicycle or crocheting one massive blanket.
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