A judged tossed Molina Healthcare of New Mexico's lawsuit to stop New Mexico from moving forward with newly awarded Medicaid contracts, the Santa Fe New Mexican reports.
Here are three things to know about the lawsuit.
1. Molina's lawsuit raises several allegations against how Republican Gov. Susana Martinez's administration awarded the contracts. Molina accused the state health department of using a consultant with a possible conflict of interest during the application process. Specifically, Molina claimed the consultant has a multibillion-dollar contract with a sister company of Western Sky Community Care, which won a contract to manage some of New Mexico's Medicaid recipients.
2. Molina, along with UnitedHealthcare and two other companies that lost bids to manage New Mexico's Medicaid beneficiaries, filed protests with the state's Human Services Department. Should those protests fail, more lawsuits could arise, the Santa Fe New Mexican reports. Molina also said it will ''likely'' exit New Mexico if the insurer isn't awarded a contract to manage the program.
3. New Mexico's multibillion-dollar Medicaid program covers 850,000-plus beneficiaries. New Mexico chose Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Mexico, Presbyterian Health Plan and Western Sky Community Care to manage Medicaid beneficiaries.
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