Legal Brief

Posted on: 3/29/24

 

On March 15, United Healthcare filed a motion for a temporary injunction in Oklahoma County district court, asking the court to stop implementation of the SoonerSelect Program on April 1, 2024. In this petition filed against the Oklahoma Office of Management and Enterprise Services, the Oklahoma Health Care Authority, John Suter, Ellen Buettner, Aetna, Humana, and Oklahoma Complete Health, the petitioner, United Healthcare, is alleging that the status quo of Oklahoma’s Medicaid program should be maintained while United’s challenge of the SoonerSelect contract awards plays out. United filed suit against OMES back in early December asking the court to void the SoonerSelect RFP process due to violations of the law and the RFP solicitation document. 

United has alleged that OHCA and OMES repeatedly violated the law and the RFP solicitation document during the SoonerSelect procurement process. Their allegations are that OHCA and OMES: (1) publicly announced intended SoonerSelect awardees before awards were made; (2) began contract performance with the intended SoonerSelect awardees before the evaluation process was completed; (3) permitting some, but not all, offerors to modify their proposals long after the due date for proposals; (4) creating such a scant record of the award decisions that Court is unable to analyze whether the awards complied with the provisions of the RFP; and (5) the decision to deny United’s protest appeal was made upon unlawful procedure because United was denied discovery of agency procurement records or had them improperly excluded from the record. 

A hearing on the temporary injunction will be held on Tuesday, April 2. United has stated that the public, OMES, and OHCA will not be harmed should the court grant the temporary injunction. However, if SoonerSelect is delayed, it is anticipated that hospitals could lose the Directed Payments. In addition, patients would be re-directed back to traditional Medicaid fee for service while United’s RFP bid protest case continues through the court process. 

The OHA is submitting an affidavit explaining the damages that hospitals will experience in the event the court were to grant United the temporary injunction. We are hopeful that the court will listen to reason and deny United’s request for a temporary injunction. The OHA will keep you updated as this case plays out in the courts. (Maggie Martin)