Amerigroup is formally protesting the state of Kansas’ decision to not renew its contract as one of the state’s KanCare insurance providers.
A filing submitted to KVOE News on Friday shows Amerigroup is requesting a stay of the state’s decision, in part due to a pending decision on the company’s open records request determining why Aetna got the contract and Amerigroup didn’t. Other reasons for the protest:
*Amerigroup says awards and contracts under the KanCare 2.0 request for proposal are invalid because they would exceed the Kansas Department of Health and Environment’s legal authority in this matter.
*Amerigroup also says KDHE failed to change the RFP and offer all bidders a chance to revise their bids, a step Amerigroup calls erroneous, arbitrary and capricious.
*Amerigroup says the KDHE contract awards for services is “materially different” from the services listed in the RFP.
*Amerigroup says KDHE failed to follow the terms of its own RFP during the contract process.
Amerigroup’s proposed remedy is for KDHE to rescind the contracts announced recently and use a new RFP for the upcoming contract or amend the current RFP to comply with current statutory authority.
KDHE has not commented so far on the Amerigroup protest.
Should the state’s initial decision stand, the Amerigroup contract ends New Year’s Eve. Customers could then choose Aetna, Sunflower or United HealthCare during open enrollment beginning this fall.
Amerigroup has been a KanCare provider since 2013.
