Dive Brief:
- Aetna sued Nebraska officials Tuesday over the state’s denial of its Medicaid contract, the Lincoln Journal Star reported.
- According to the complaint filed in Lancaster County District Court, state officials wrongly rejected the carrier’s initial contract award in favor of managed care organization that wasn’t qualified for the job.
- At stake is a share in Nebraska’s nearly $1 billion Medicaid market.
Dive Insight:
Six managed care groups, including Aetna Better Health of Nebraska, applied to participate in Heritage Health, the state’s new managed care program. The program, which will bring each patient under a single plan for physical and behavioral health, is set to launch in 2017.
Aetna, which already operates managed care plans for about 105,000 Medicaid beneficiaries in Nebraska, won an initial contract award in February, but lost out following a rescoring of contract proposals requested by losing bidders.
In an email to the Journal Star, Aetna said it was miffed the state would choose a lesser-known managed care organization over a “highly qualified” one with established ties to Nebraska patients and providers.
Nebraska officials maintained that they know what is best for their citizens.
The complaint asks the court to overturn the decision.