Amid Political Turmoil, Arizona Resolves Managed Long-Term Care Dispute

May 15
May 15, 2025

After months of legal battles, negotiations and political wrangling over contracts serving elderly and disabled Medicaid enrollees, the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS) reached agreements with four managed care organizations for a start date of Oct. 1, 2025. That’s one year later than previously awarded contracts to serve the Arizona Long Term Care System-Elderly and/or Physically Disabled (ALTCS-EPD) program were slated to begin, and the revised agreements now include two incumbent plans that had lost the original bid, filed protests and took legal action.

A third protesting bidder, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona, was not one of the settling parties, although AHCCCS says the insurer participated in mediation discussions. “Our hope was to work toward a common-sense solution, but the settlement fails to address the problems in the RFP process that the Administrative Law Judge [ALJ] found,” said the Arizona Blues insurer in a May 1 statement.
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Lauren Flynn Kelly

Lauren has been covering health business issues since the early 2000s and specializes in in-depth reporting on Medicare Advantage, managed Medicaid and Medicare Part D. She also possesses a deep understanding of the complex world of pharmacy benefit management, having written AIS Health’s Radar on Drug Benefits from 2004 to 2005 and again from 2011 to 2016. In addition to her role as managing editor of Radar on Medicare Advantage, she oversees AIS Health’s publications and manages the health editorial staff. She graduated from Vassar College with a B.A. in English.