UnitedHealthcare corporate headquartersin Minnetonka, Minnesota/Photo by KenWolter/Shutterstock.com

With tens of billions of dollars in contracts at stake, adozen health plans have told Florida officials they are challengingnewly awarded Medicaid contracts.

The challenges could complicate plans by the state Agency forHealth Care Administration to transition to new five-year contractsfor Florida's massive Medicaid program by Jan. 1. Medicaid isFlorida's safety-net health program that provides care for nearly 4million poor, elderly and disabled people, with 85 percent ofbeneficiaries enrolled in managed-care plans.

Some of the bid protests filed late last week were expectedbecause several managed-care plans currently providing Medicaidservices would not have their contracts renewed. Some of those whofiled challenges included Molina Healthcare of Florida, PrestigeHealth Choice and UnitedHealthcare of Florida.

“There's a lot of investment that has happened over the lastfive years, so I don't find it surprising there would be protests,”said Audrey Brown, president and CEO of the Florida Association ofHealth Plans, which represents the managed-care industry.

The health plans challenged contracts ranging from providing thefull range of Medicaid services to specialized contracts forlong-term care, services for HIV/AIDS patients and mental-healthservices.

The Agency for Health Care Administration has gone through alengthy process of awarding contracts in 11 regions of the state,with contracts going to varying numbers of plans in the regions.Several health plans filed protests for all 11 regions, whileothers filed protests for specific parts of the state.

This is the second such procurement since the FloridaLegislature passed a law in 2011 mandating that most Medicaidpatients enroll in managed-care plans.

The protest notices start a legal process for the plans tochallenge the agency decisions. The notices submitted Friday didnot provide the rationale behind the challenges. The companies have10 days to file formal written protests that spell out why theythink the agency erred.

AHCA last week announced the names of nine managed-care plansthat won contracts.

Florida Medicaid Director Beth Kidder said earlier this yearthat the contracts could be worth as much as $90 billion over afive year-period. The state first issued its invitation tonegotiate for the latest round of contracts in July 2017.

If the agency's decisions stand, Sunshine Health Plan wouldoperate in all 11 regions of the state. Sunshine Health would offerMedicaid beneficiaries access to a traditional plan as well as aseparate “child welfare” specialty plan.

Simply Healthcare Plans, meanwhile, would offer a specialty planfor people with HIV and AIDS in all 11 regions.

Humana was picked by the state as a provider in 10 of the 11regions across the state but did not win a bid in Medicaid Region1, which includes Escambia, Okaloosa, Santa Rosa and Waltoncounties.

But by winning a contract in Region 2, which also includes partsof the Panhandle, Humana would be able to serve Medicaidbeneficiaries in Region 1. To encourage managed-care participationin the Panhandle, lawmakers agreed in 2011 to provide health plansan incentive to participate in regions 1 and 2. A law requires AHCAto award additional contracts in any other regions where plans bidif they have contracts in Region 1 or Region 2.

Christine Sexton reports for the News Service ofFlorida.