A North Carolina appeals court ruled that the Department of Health and Human Services was in the right with its awarding of a handful of prepaid three-year Medicaid contracts.
The department awarded contracts to Centene subsidiary WellCare, AmeriHealth Caritas N.C., Healthy Blue and UnitedHealthcare in February 2019 and was met with challenges, according to the Winston-Salem Journal.
Aetna and My Health filed petitions in September 2019 contesting the decision-making process. Specifically, Aetna claimed it should have been chosen over Healthy Blue.
While a superior court supported the department's decision, the recent appellate court decision largely seals the deal, which began July 1 for fiscal year 2021-22.
"The Superior Court clearly determined Aetna had accused the opposing parties of procedural gamesmanship, rather than acknowledging a procedural mistake during service and asking the court to excuse that mistake 'for good cause shown,'" according to the ruling.