Pennsylvania appears to be no closer to awarding new contracts to serve its HealthChoices Medicaid physical health program than it was when it first launched the process of soliciting bids for such contracts in September of 2015.
When losing bidders protested the contracts awarded based on the state’s original request for proposals and took the state to court, the state threw out all the bids and cast aside its decision and started the process all over again, issuing a new request for proposals last year. When the state announced new awards in January the losing bidders again protested, this time alleging “irregularities” in the decision-making process. With the renewed threat of litigation, the planned implementation of the new contracts on June 1 now appears to be in jeopardy.
For a closer look at the issues, the alleged irregularities, and what is being done to resolve this matter once and for all, see this Philadelphia Inquirer article.