Panel Reviews Health Plan Contracting Process

The procurement process used to select health plans for state-run programs was detailed during a four hour legislative hearing Tuesday, August 18. The Senate Health, Human Services and Housing Committee delved into dozens of issues that surround the competitive bidding process used for managed care contracts. The issue came to the forefront recently when the Dayton administration explained that UCare, a provider of health care coverage for low income Minnesotans on MinnesotaCare and Medical Assistance, would not a future health care provider for about 360,000 consumers.

A July 28 news release by the Dayton Administration stated, “In 2011, five managed care organizations (MCOs) were awarded competitive contracts worth $4 billion to cover enrollees in the state’s Medical Assistance (MA) and MinnesotaCare programs. Today, DHS is expanding these competitive contracts to continue to deliver higher quality health care at about 15% lower cost compared to 2015.” Explicit reasons the state excluded UCare as a future provider have not yet been released.

In an interview following the meeting, Senator Kathy Sheran, DFL-Mankato, said she is concerned that the state’s most vulnerable population will fall through the cracks with the loss of UCare as one of the health program agents. She questioned whether losing the client-agent relationship for this population is worth the savings incurred. “I think the procurement process is limited and we will have some negative outcomes because of it,” Sharon stated. She also said the issue will be vetted further in future hearings and some legislative action is likely in 2016.