DHHS News Release: Nebraska Medicaid Announces Requests for Proposal For New Health Insurance Contracts

News Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 8, 2022

MEDIA CONTACT
Barb Tyler, Office of Communications, (531) 530-7484, barb.tyler@nebraska.gov

 

Nebraska Medicaid Announces Requests for Proposal For New Health Insurance Contracts

LINCOLN – The Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) has received bids from five health plans to provide healthcare services for its Medicaid managed care program. A request for proposals (RFP) was initially posted in April 2022, and bids were due July 1.

The five bidding companies are:

  • Community Care Plan of Nebraska, Inc. d/b/a Healthy Blue
  • Medica Community Health Plan
  • Molina Healthcare of Nebraska, Inc.
  • Nebraska Total Care, Inc.
  • UnitedHealth Care of the Midlands, Inc.

Of the named bidders, Nebraska Medicaid will select two to three to provide physical health, behavioral health, pharmacy, and dental services. The chosen bidders will be contracted with DHHS for at least five years to provide most healthcare services to the members in managed care.

Nebraska Medicaid plans to announce the winning bidders in late August. From now until then, the bids will be scored based on specific and general expertise by Medicaid leaders. The State answered two rounds of bidders’ questions prior to the due date.

The bidders will be evaluated based on criteria through their proposals, which may include oral interviews, as part of the multi-stage process. The companies bring forward action plans and discuss their past learning experiences. From there, Medicaid will determine which are best suited to provide the best service to our members and providers over the next several years.

“Our goal throughout this RFP has been to improve our members’ and providers’ experience by building on previous successes and making thoughtful changes in response to stakeholder feedback,” Medicaid Director Kevin Bagley said. “That goal will be top of mind for our team as we rigorously evaluate these five proposals over the coming weeks.”

The new RFP includes several changes, integrating dental services with physical health, behavioral health, and pharmacy services; simplifying credentialing for providers; and improving electronic visit verification. After the winning bidders are chosen, Medicaid will work on implementing these changes as smoothly as possible for our members.

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