Illinois COVID test provider owed nearly $7 million by federal government
CHICAGO (CBS) – It's been nearly four years since the world was changed forever, but the COVID-19 pandemic may seem like a distant memory.
But that's not the case for one Illinois small business owner who wonders every day when the government will pay her company back for millions of dollars worth of COVID testing.
CBS 2's reporting has already caught the attention of a congressman who's getting more attention on the issue.
Janine Morabito sounded off on social media.
"Which county does not pay its citizens millions of dollars for their hard work during the pandemic? America!" read one of her tweets.
In another, she wrote, "How is this even legal?"
It was her new way of sharing her frustration with the federal government.
"There's actually a link to your story," she said, referring to a CBS 2 story from October of 2023 about the suburban small business owner's $7 million dilemma.
She spent the money to open and operate Mercury Lab in December of 2021.
Inside a Chicago building, her company provided free COVID testing to thousands of people with the promise of reimbursement by a government agency called the Health Resources and Services Administration.
"Was Congress aware that thousands of COVID providers have not been paid in two years?" Morabito wrote on social media.
Her equipment is in storage, and her lab was closed because the federal government never paid her a dime.
She was told her claims were under review for months. During a previous interview, CBS 2 read Morabito an update from the feds. A bill passed by Congress rescinded her money. Under the law, "no additional claims payments will be made under the uninsured program."
Reporter: "When you do a Google search, it doesn't seem like any other news media is covering this topic. Are you surprised?"
Morabito: "Very surprised."
U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider (D-Illinois) has been trying to figure out a way to get providers paid.
"This is an issue that's not just affecting Janine Morabito here in the 10th District, but it's affecting people across the country," Schneider said.
One attempt was an add-on to a November spending bill, but it didn't work.
"It got stalled," Schneider said. "Everything in Congress is stalled right now."
Now, he's taking a different approach in a written request to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for an "immediate accounting" of and a "plan for filling unpaid and partially paid claims." About a dozen fellow members of the U.S. House signed onto the request.
Schneider said there are members on both sides of the aisle that signed the letter. The bipartisan inquiry included questions about when exactly funding was exhausted and why claims from lab owners like Morabito were under review for so long.
"That is a great question," Morabito said, adding her claims were under review for over a year.
Those reimbursement delays have caused damage. Morabito had to take a new job and sell off several assets to try to fill her $6.8 million hole.
"More debt, interest on the debt," she said. "More interest, more interest and we just keep going down, down, down, down, down."
A spokesperson for the Health Resources and Services Administration told CBS 2 this week that only 0.3% of providers hadn't been paid before funding was taken away.
"They're getting whipsawed a little bit by what was happening in Congress," Schneider said. "That's part of the inquiry we have is what do they need to complete the process?"
So far, CBS 2 has learned the Health Resources and Services Administration has not responded to Schneider's letter. He sent it about two weeks ago and requested answers within 30 days.