UnitedHealthcare gets HMO license in Minnesota
The
With the license, UnitedHealthcare likely will compete against nonprofit HMOs as well as county-based purchasing organizations for managed care contracts in the state's Medical Assitance and MinnesotaCare programs. During 2017, the primary state contract in those programs generated more than
"UnitedHealthcare is pleased that we were able to obtain an HMO license from the state of
UnitedHealthcare has been operating in
"The change in law just gives the state more options when deciding how it will operate state-funded health insurance," said
There could be more for-profit HMOs on the horizon.
Medical Assistance is
Across all public programs, HMOs and county-based purchasing groups this month are managing care for about 900,000 state residents. The majority access coverage via three nonprofit HMOs --
The state
UnitedHealthcare has become one of the nation's largest Medicaid health insurers, although Medicaid enrollment of 6.45 million people at the end of 2018 was down slightly from the previous year. This month, UnitedHealthcare announced it had been selected as one of four managed care organizations to administer
In
Former Gov.
In 1973,
Over time, however, many employer health plans in
When state lawmakers eliminated the ban on for-profit HMOs, some hoped the change would bring more competition to the market where individuals buy health insurance. UnitedHealthcare has largely retreated from that market, however, and Humana has pulled back as well.
Twitter: @chrissnowbeck
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