SPRINGFIELD — Action taken today by a bipartisan legislative panel gives Health Alliance Medical Plans another chance to bid on a long-term contract for state employee and retiree health coverage.
And today's development paves the way for the Urbana insurer to drop its lawsuit over the 2011 state insurance contract awards.
The Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability took two steps today — one, to permit Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services to operate a self-insurance plan and move ahead with the bids it had previously awarded to HealthLink and Coventry Health Care, formerly PersonalCare, for open-access plans.
COGFA also voted to issue supplemental requests for proposals for fully insured HMO group health plans, according to Sen. Mike Frerichs, D-Champaign,
Frerichs, a COGFA member, said there's no guarantee Health Alliance will be awarded the bid, but "I think they will be very competitive."
Health Alliance spokeswoman Jane Hayes said Health Alliance hopes to bid on coverage for 96 Illinois counties.
"I understand that it would be a four-year contract with five additional one-year renewals, which would align it with the contract Blue Cross Blue Shield already has," she said.
If the request for proposals is issued, Hayes said, no judge can offer Health Alliance a better chance to bid on state business, so steps would be taken to dismiss the company's pending lawsuit over the state insurance contracts, she said.
More
This is what is great about our state! Lose out on a contract, *itch & moan,talk to the right people, & we get to rebid. We wonder why this state is broke? Hardly