Managed care organizations that want to challenge the award of upward of $90 billion in Medicaid contracts to nine health plans across the state have until late Friday afternoon to launch protests.
Organizations that don’t agree with the state Agency for Health Care Administration’s contracting decisions, announced Tuesday, must file what is called a notice of intent to protest within 72 hours of the agency posting its decision.
That gives the managed care plans until 4:15 p.m. Friday to file notices with the state. Any managed care plan that files a notice of intent to protest must also post a bond in an amount equal to 1 percent of the estimated contract amount, which the state must provide within 72 hours of the filing of notice of intent to protest.
Medicaid Director Beth Kidder previously said the five-year contracts could be worth upward of $90 billion in the aggregate.
The managed-care plans that receive the contracts will provide health care to nearly 4 million poor, elderly and disabled residents.
If the agency’s decisions stand, Sunshine Health Plan, Humana, and Florida Community Care will operate in all 11 regions of the state. Also statewide, Sunshine Health and Simply Healthcare Plans will offer specialty managed-care plans catered to people in the “child welfare” system and people living with HIV and AIDS, respectively.
WellCare of Florida, which operates as Staywell Health Plan of Florida, also will offer a specialty plan statewide for people with serious mental illnesses.
