Chaos to order?

Crisis in Illinois. Order in the court.

Yesterday Judge Lefkow ordered the State of Illinois to negotiate a plan with us to pay over $2 billion in overdue Medicaid bills. The State’s failure to pay as a result of a three-year budget impasse puts millions of adults and children — as well as the entire safety net health system — at risk. Read the entire press release here and the court order here.

Will this be the “crisis” Illinois needs to hammer out a budget and revenue solutions?

There may not be much time left to tell.

Here’s a partial round up of press coverage:

• Reuters, Illinois Gets June 20 Deadline to Boost Medicaid Funding
• Crain’s, Judge to Illinois comptroller: State must pay Medicaid providers more
• WTTW, Judge Rules on State Payments to Medicaid Providers
• U.S. News and World Report, Judge Rules Illinois Not in Compliance on Medicaid Payments (Associated Press)
• Politico, JUDGE orders STATE to tackle MEDICAID backlog — COOK COUNTY’s broken PROPERTY TAX system — STATE budget DEFICIT tops $6B
• Chicago Tribune, Judge orders state to make ‘substantial’ dent in $2 billion backlog owed to Medicaid
• Illinois Public Radio, Judge Orders Faster Medicaid Payments
• Journal Standard.com, Judge rules Illinois not in compliance on Medicaid payments
• Bloomberg, Illinois Ordered to Negotiate Over $2 Billion Medicaid Debt
• Cook County Record, Federal judge: State can’t keep skimping on Medicaid while fully funding worker pay, debt obligations