Passport Loses Ky. Medicaid Rebid; Evolent Seeks Answers
After a reviewing a second round of bids in an attempt to “ensure a fair and transparent process,” Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) and the Cabinet for Health and Family Services (CHFS) on May 29 named the same five winners in the Medicaid contract awards originally made under former Gov. Matt Bevin (R). Passport Health Plan, which has a long history of serving the state’s Medicaid program and was on the brink of insolvency until Evolent Health purchased a 70% stake in it, was once again not chosen and plans to protest.
CVS Health Corp.-owned Aetna, Humana Inc., Molina Healthcare, Inc., UnitedHealthcare and WellCare Health Plans, Inc. (now owned by Centene Corp.) in November were selected to manage benefits for approximately 1.4 million Medicaid and CHIP enrollees. All five retained their awards; Aetna also won a separate contract that originally went to WellCare to serve Kentucky SKY, a risk-based managed care delivery program for foster children and the Dept. for Juvenile Justice. Incumbents Anthem, Inc. and Passport were not selected either time; both protested the November decision.