Judge stops Medicaid pact process

Associated Press

COLUMBUS

In a dispute over the scoring of contract applications, a central Ohio judge on Tuesday blocked the state from moving forward with tentative Medicaid contracts it awarded to five health plans.

Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Richard Sheward ordered the contract process halted for now, at the request of Aetna Better Health of Ohio.

Aetna is suing the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services because state officials had selected the company for a contract in April and then revoked the decision earlier this month. Aetna claims the state retroactively changed the definition of certain requirements in its request for contract applications, and the company wants its contract reinstated.

The contract awards are preliminary. The health plans, or managed care organizations, must first pass a state assessment, in which they must prove that they will be ready and able to provide care when Medicaid enrollment under the plans begins in January.