UnitedHealthcare is suing the Department of Defense over the loss of its TRICARE South Region contract. The health insurance company has been fighting for reinstatement of the contract it was originally awarded in 2009 but lost last February.
The DoD's TRICARE Management Activity (TMA), which manages TRICARE, the healthcare plan for members active and retired military and their families, originally awarded UnitedHealthcare its South Region contract, covering Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and parts of Kentucky and Texas.
The incumbent holder of the contract, Humana Military Healthcare Services, filed a protest with the Government Accountability Office (GAO), which, ultimately, resulted in TMA reversing its award to UnitedHealthcare and retaining Humana.
UnitedHealthcare filed a protest with the GAO in March about the contract reversal, which put the TRICARE South Region contract transition on hold while the GAO reviewed UnitedHealthcare's concerns. On June 14, the GAO rejected UnitedHealthcare's protest, upholding TMA's decision. UnitedHealthcare responded by filing suit on Tuesday with the U.S. Court of Federal Claims.
"The stakes for military families are simply too high, and the deficiencies in the contracting process too significant, for the Department of Defense to proceed with implementing this contract as it stands," said UnitedHealthcare's CEO, Lori McDougal, in a statement about the lawsuit. "The Pentagon disregarded its own stated goals for this contract, and military families' access to quality healthcare in the South will be put at risk as a result."