Hearing on state health contract highly charged | Georgia Health News

Attorneys for UnitedHealthcare continued hammering away at the state’s award of an employee benefits contract to a competitor, saying Wednesday that it was a deeply flawed bidding process that needs to be redone.

“This process has been an embarrassment to our state [and] to our governor,’’ said Randy Evans of McKenna, Long & Aldridge.

iStock_000023217379LargeEvans represented United at a hearing on its appeal of the lucrative contract award to Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia. Evans is also Gov. Nathan Deal’s attorney in unrelated matters.

The contracting process that awarded the State Health Benefit Plan contract showed bias and was “flawed beyond repair,’’ Evans said.

United currently holds the SHBP contract, along with Cigna, which has also protested the award.

Blue Cross, though, emphasized in the two-day hearing that its contract will save the state more than $1.5 billion. United’s bid was simply too high, said Dan Hofmeister of Reed Smith, representing Blue Cross.

“They are the incumbent. They want to keep the contract,” Hofmeister said of United. “They’re grasping; they’re desperate.’’ He called United’s claims of fraud “absurd.’’

via Hearing on state health contract highly charged | Georgia Health News.