Texas Health and Human Services’ gave Aetna a boost and must start over.
In Texas, millions of low-income residents are dependent on Medicaid for their health care coverage. The care provided is crucial to Texans, especially children and expectant mothers.
That’s why it’s concerning that the state department in charge of awarding Medicaid contracts released sensitive information that could have given one insurer, Aetna, an advantage during the bidding process. Texas Health and Human Services, the agency handling the bidding process, should redo its procurement process in the interest of fairness.
Karen Brooks Harper first reported on the agency’s error in The Texas Tribune. Her reporting revealed that Texas Health and Human Services officials admitted that they erred in showing Aetna the bids of 17 other competing insurers early in the process. These contracts are worth billions of dollars, and giving one company information on the other bids is unfair to taxpayers who deserve the best deal.
It’s legal for companies to request open records to gain an advantage during the bidding process, but it’s up to the state agency to make sure that any information shared is fairly distributed. Aetna requested documents in August 2023, before the awards were announced this March. Aetna was the only insurer to have access to documents while other insurers were still making presentations to the state’s evaluation team. According to The Texas Tribune, eight insurers have filed protests to the state potentially awarding contracts to Aetna and other bidders.
Source: Texas agency botched multibillion-dollar Medicaid bid / Victoria Advocate