Passport Health claims state violated bidding process and will make Medicaid overpayments in Jefferson County as a result

Passport Health Plan has charged that the state of Kentucky has violated its own bidding process and will spend as much as $80 million more than necessary per year under its new Medicaid managed-care contracts for the Jefferson County region. Tom Loftus of The Courier-Journal reports that the formal letter of protest of the bidding process was filed Thursday. It is the company's response to the recent division of the services of Jefferson County's 170,000 Medicaid recipients to four Medicaid managed-care companies that were once served only by Passport. Loftus writes that Passport is questioning how the region's recipients have been reapportioned. The company says it anticipated a 41 percent share of the region's Medicaid business, but was notified Wednesday that it initially will be assigned only 27 percent. The Cabinet for Health and Family Services released a statement explained that all bidders were aware of the conditions of the contract during negotiations. (Read more)