Three companies chosen to play key roles in Louisiana’s new health care delivery system for the poor have filed lawsuits to block release of information contained in their winning proposals.
The suits were filed in 19th Judicial District Court by Louisiana Healthcare Connection Inc., AmeriGroup Louisiana Inc., and United Healthcare of Louisiana Inc.
The companies oppose the state Department of Health and Hospitals plan to release the full, unredacted proposals they submitted as they competed for some $2.2 billion in state Medicaid program business. They argued that some of the information is propriety.
“Our argument is we are transparent and we want the public to know what we have,” said DHH general counsel Steve Russo.
Medicaid is the government’s health insurance program for the poor. The new program would serve about 875,000 of the state’s 1.2 million in Medicaid recipients – most of them children.
The firms would run “coordinated care networks” which emphasize preventive and primary care.
The firms must form network of providers that include physicians, hospitals, and other health care resources. The idea is to cut cost and improve Medicaid recipients health through better coordination of care and use of medical best practices.
Nineteenth Judicial District Judge Todd Hernandez, of Baton Rouge, granted injunctions in two of the cases. Nineteenth Judicial District Judge Michael Caldwell granted an injunction in the other case.
Hearings on the issue of a preliminary and potentially permanent injunction barring the information’s release are scheduled for next week.
