Aetna and Centene subsidiary Louisiana Healthcare Connections, who lost bids to help manage Louisiana's Medicaid program, filed protests against the state's decision Aug. 19, according to The Advocate.
In their protests, the health insurers claim the Louisiana Department of Health was biased against them when deciding which payers should win part of the multibillion-dollar Medicaid contracts. Aetna and Centene also claimed the department's scoring was inconsistent.
Louisiana's new Medicaid contracts, of which Humana, AmeriHealth Caritas Louisiana, Community Care Health Plan of Louisiana (Healthy Blue) and United Healthcare Community Plan all won, are set to take effect Jan. 1.
However, if the protests aren't resolved in the two months before open enrollment for the state's Medicaid beneficiaries, the state health department may seek an emergency order to keep the current contracts, according to the report.
Read more here.
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