Christine Jordan Sexton
The state does not anticipate multibillion-dollar Medicaid managed care contracts to be awarded until March 25.
The Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) posted an amended timeline for its Medicaid Invitation to Negotiate (ITN) that shows the state anticipates it won’t finish its negotiations with health plans until March 15 and intends to electronically post the notice of intent to award two weeks later.
The ITN for the Statewide Medicaid Managed Care Program was released in April 2023. Eleven managed care plans — nine with existing state Medicaid contracts and two new plans — responded to the ITN in October.
The initial timeline for the Statewide Medicaid Managed Care Program shows AHCA intended to post its notice of intent to award contracts by Dec. 11, 2023. Four months later, AHCA bumped the anticipated deadline to Feb. 23, 2024.
Because most Medicaid services are provided through the managed care program and not through the fee-for-service program, the contracts are worth tens of billions for the winning Medicaid managed care plans. Plans that don’t ink contracts with the state are locked out of the managed care program unless they merge with, or buy, a plan with an existing contract.
The latest anticipated delay is unsurprising, given that AHCA didn’t begin negotiating with the health plans that submitted qualifying bids until late January.
Florida’s existing managed care contracts expire Dec. 31, 2024. This is the third time the state has put the Medicaid program out for competitive bid.
The ITN notes that “the agency’s overall objectives are for Medicaid enrollees to receive all medically necessary services in a timely manner and in the most appropriate setting, thereby achieving high-quality outcomes while containing costs.”
The Statewide Medicaid Managed Care Program was one of three Medicaid ITNs the state released in 2023. Florida Medicaid officials also are procuring managed care plans for its prepaid dental program and its managed care pilot program for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
AHCA announced earlier this month its intent to award a six-year contract to Florida Community Care to pilot the idea in Medicaid Regions D and I. Region D comprises Hardee, Highlands, Hillsborough, Manatee and Polk counties. Medicaid Region I covers Miami-Dade and Monroe counties.
For now, the anticipated deadline to announce the winning Medicaid prepaid dental plans remains March 29.
