Illinois has selected six insurers for the state’s Medicaid managed care program, down from the 12 which were currently participating.
BlueCross BlueShield of Illinois, Harmony Health Plan, IlliniCare Health, Meridian Health Plan, Molina Healthcare and CountyCare Health Plan were selected for four-year contracts for the $9 billion business. All six had been involved in the program before the overhaul. Three others which had submitted bids—Aetna Better Health of Illinois, Trusted Health Plan and NextLevel Health—weren’t selected, according to the Chicago Tribune, with Aetna having previously threatened to exit if the state couldn’t figure out how to pay for it.
Four other insurers—Family Health Network, Humana, Cigna-HealthSpring and Community Care Alliance of Illinois—didn’t submit bids despite being a part of the current program.
“By operating with an ideal number of plans, overhead costs will be reduced while we make sure every beneficiary receives powerful choice,” said Felicia Norwood, director of the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services. “This means more of the program's money going to real people instead of bureaucracy.”
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John joined TriMed in 2016, focusing on healthcare policy and regulation. After graduating from Columbia College Chicago, he worked at FM News Chicago and Rivet News Radio, and worked on the state government and politics beat for the Illinois Radio Network. Outside of work, you may find him adding to his never-ending graphic novel collection.