Progress Illinois

It's tough to find good news in Illinois these days, but here's something satisfying to take into the holiday weekend. The Chi-Town Daily News' Alex Parker reports that the Chicago Department of Public Health has cleaned up the billing problems that almost resulted in the closure of several city-run mental health centers earlier this spring.

As you may remember from Parker's big report in April and our subsequent coverage, a new $16 million billing system implemented by the city last year was so flawed that patient mental health bills weren’t submitted to the state for six months in 2008. The computer problem led to a loss of more than $1 million in state funding and threatened to close down four clinics on the city's South Side. While the facilities were eventually spared by stimulus funds, the system was not fixed right away. But Department of Human Services spokesperson Tom Green says the city is now submitting claims "on a routine basis now." More from Parker:

It is unclear when the city’s billing glitch was fixed, or if it is billing for 100 percent of its services.

“We are pleased that everything is in sync again, as it should be,” says CDPH spokesman Tim Hadac. “We look forward to continuing to (use) every dollar that comes in as wisely as we can to serve Chicagoans of limited means who struggle with mental illness.”

When we talked with Hadac over email this spring, he told us that the billing data had started to flow. He also noted that state funding will return to proper levels in approximately 18 months, which is 15 months from now. A costly mistake, but at least it's been sorted out.