Aetna's (AET) Better Health Unit Files Protest of Ohio Medicaid Managed Care Awards
Tweet Send to a FriendGet Alerts AET Hot Sheet
Up)
Trade AET Now!
Aetna Better Health Inc., an Aetna (NYSE: AET) Medicaid company, has filed a protest of the Ohio Medicaid Managed Care awards announced on June 7, 2012. The protest outlines significant legal issues in the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services’ (ODJFS) decision to cancel its original contract award to Aetna and requests that the ODJFS immediately reinstate the award to Aetna.
Aetna’s protest notes that, after the submissions were all made, and after announcing the original contract award, ODJFS made the decision to retroactively change the definition of certain requirements outlined in its Request For Application (RFA). These changes contributed to the state’s flawed determination that Aetna, a company with over 25 years of experience in the Medicaid business, did not deserve credit for its experience in fully managing Medicaid plans in other states. Aetna provided substantial evidence demonstrating the accuracy and strength of its response to the RFA; however it does not appear that this evidence was factored into the amended contract awards.
In addition, Aetna has learned that representatives of ODJFS had previously undisclosed communications with another bidder after the initial protest period had closed. Aetna’s understanding is that, in these previously undisclosed communications, the other bidder made a number of false and misleading statements about Aetna’s Medicaid managed care experience, to which Aetna was not provided the opportunity to respond by ODJFS, in violation of the express terms of the RFA and state law. Those statements appear to have resulted in the state's decision to reverse its previous award to Aetna.
Join StreetInsider.com FREE and get immediately alerted when news breaks on your stocks and other market items - JOIN NOW
*NEW - Download StreetInsider's FREE iPhone and iPad App - Click Here
Aetna’s protest notes that, after the submissions were all made, and after announcing the original contract award, ODJFS made the decision to retroactively change the definition of certain requirements outlined in its Request For Application (RFA). These changes contributed to the state’s flawed determination that Aetna, a company with over 25 years of experience in the Medicaid business, did not deserve credit for its experience in fully managing Medicaid plans in other states. Aetna provided substantial evidence demonstrating the accuracy and strength of its response to the RFA; however it does not appear that this evidence was factored into the amended contract awards.
In addition, Aetna has learned that representatives of ODJFS had previously undisclosed communications with another bidder after the initial protest period had closed. Aetna’s understanding is that, in these previously undisclosed communications, the other bidder made a number of false and misleading statements about Aetna’s Medicaid managed care experience, to which Aetna was not provided the opportunity to respond by ODJFS, in violation of the express terms of the RFA and state law. Those statements appear to have resulted in the state's decision to reverse its previous award to Aetna.
Join StreetInsider.com FREE and get immediately alerted when news breaks on your stocks and other market items - JOIN NOW
*NEW - Download StreetInsider's FREE iPhone and iPad App - Click Here
You May Also Be Interested In
- Aetna Announces Appearance at the Deutsche Bank 38th Annual Health Care Conference
- ChannelAdvisor (ECOM) Prices 5.75M IPO at $14/Share
- Boeing (BA) Reports Drop of 24 Net New 737 Orders Last Week
Create E-mail Alert Related Categories
Corporate News
Login with Facebook
Sign up for StreetInsider Free!
Receive full access to all new and archived articles, unlimited portfolio tracking, e-mail alerts, custom newswires and RSS feeds - and more!
