Louisiana drops Aetna, Centene from 2020 Medicaid managed care contracts

• The Louisiana Department of Public Health announced vendors that will receive Medicaid managed care contracts for 2020. New awarded contracts include Community Care Health Plan of Louisiana and Humana Health Benefit Plan of Louisiana, while AmeriHealth Caritas Louisiana and United Healthcare Community Plan had their contracts renewed.
• Two current Medicaid managed care contractors, Centene’s Louisiana Healthcare Connections and Aetna Better Health, did not receive new contracts.
• Louisiana Healthcare Connections said it would file a formal protest, according to a report.

Louisiana has made some significant changes to its Medicaid program in recent years. It expanded Medicaid eligibility in early 2016 under the Affordable Care Act after the election of Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat, the prior November. His predecessor, Republican Bobby Jindal, had moved Louisiana’s Medicaid enrollees into managed care.

And now, the Louisiana Department of Public Health has shaken up the process even more, dropping two vendors that manage benefits for roughly a third of the state’s 1.7 million Medicaid enrollees. The department did not give any particular reasons behind the decision, which was announced Aug. 5.

The biggest loser is Louisiana Healthcare Connections, which managed more than 440,000 lives; Aetna managed slightly more than 115,000. Louisiana Healthcare Connections received the lowest score of all the bidders. A spokesperson for Louisiana Health Connections did not respond to a request seeking comment.

Randal Johnson, a lobbyist for Louisiana Health Connections, told the Associated Press that the company would lodge a formal protest against the decision, which would be due by Aug. 19.

“I’m quite certain based on everything I’ve been told that that process played out the way that it should have,” Bel Edwards said. “If they have some reason to believe that there was a flaw in the process, they certainly have the ability to bring that to the attention of the right authorities.”

The transition will have to occur during an open enrollment period that runs from Oct. 15 to Nov. 30. Coverage under the new regime of plans begins Jan. 1.

https://www.healthcaredive.com/news/louisiana-drops-aetna-centene-plans-from-2020-medicaid-managed-care-contra/560592/