SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) – Illinois’ debt to the state’s health care providers continues to grow in the wake of the failure by legislators and the governor to agree on a budget.

The Illinois Legislature’s bipartisan Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability reported in July that payment delays to insurance companies and providers for state employee health care now stretch up to 1½ years and will get worse.

The commission’s executive director, Dan Long, tells the State Journal-Register in Springfield the amount owed by the state is growing by about $200 million per month and won’t stop until there’s legislation appropriating general revenue funds to pay the bills.