Florida's Agency for Health Care Administration selected nine health insurers April 24 to provide healthcare to the state's nearly four million Medicaid patients, according to News 4 Jax.
Beth Kidder, deputy secretary for the AHCA's Medicaid division, told News 4 Jax the contracts are potentially the largest ever awarded by the state and may be worth more than $90 billion over a five-year period.
The Florida Legislature redefined the state's Medicaid program in 2011, requiring almost all Medicaid beneficiaries to enroll in managed care plans. AHCA proceeded to divide the state into 11 regions and negotiated contracts for each region. Interested parties were invited to negotiate for the contracts in July 2017, the report states.
While the state will offer new plans, some providers that currently hold state Medicaid contracts will be shut out of the program when the new contracts go into effect in 2019. Two such providers are Molina Healthcare of Florida and Positive Healthcare. Both organizations told the publication they plan on challenging the AHCA's decision.
To access the full report, click here.