Pentagon Blames UnitedHealth for Failures Under Contract

[xchrom]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-05-03/pentagon-blames-unitedhealth-for-failures-under-contract.html

The Pentagon rebuked UnitedHealth (UNH) Group Inc., the nation’s largest insurer, after military families began experiencing long delays getting medical-care referrals from the company.

The backlogs occurred almost as soon as Minnetonka, Minnesota-based UnitedHealth took over a contract, valued as much as $20.5 billion, from TriWest Healthcare Alliance Corp. It assumed responsibility on April 1 for the western region of the military’s health-care system, known as Tricare.

UnitedHealth’s “failure to meet contractor requirements” has prevented a large number of beneficiaries in one Tricare health plan from obtaining timely access to specialty care, Jonathan Woodson, assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, said in a memo yesterday to other military leaders.

Woodson, calling the situation “extraordinary,” said the Pentagon stepped in to grant a temporary waiver so the plan’s members in the western region could get specialty care without UnitedHealth’s authorization and not incur penalties.

[Stuart G]

1. Single Payer...for all...To hell with United Health..nt