Pentagon Blames UnitedHealth for Failures Under Contract
Source: Bloomberg
[B[Pentagon Blames UnitedHealth for Failures Under Contract
By Kathleen Miller
May 03, 2013 12:00 AM EDT
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.
Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-05-03/pentagon-blames-unitedhealth-for-failures-under-contract.html
= new reply since forum marked as read
not.
Once again, Ronald Reagan was wrong. Whatever government can do, private industry can do it worse and at a much higher price with virtually no accountability.
Great idea! Let's privatize everything! 
-Laelth