Idaho's state health plan administrator is set to switch from Blue Cross of Idaho to Regence BlueShield of Idaho in July, the Idaho Capital Sun reported Jan. 29.
The state health plan covers nearly 62,000 people and the new contract with Regence was signed Jan. 4. Blue Cross has held the contract since 2004 and sued the state over its decision — a final decision on the new contract is pending until the lawsuit is resolved, according to the report.
"We're honored by the state's decision to award the contract to administer the state employee health plan to Regence BlueShield of Idaho, following a rigorous and disciplined solicitation process,” a spokesperson for the payer told the Idaho Capital Sun.
"The state purchasing process must be transparent,” a Blue Cross spokesperson told the news outlet. "This decision will impact the health care of over sixty-thousand state workers, educators and their families. The people of Idaho have the right to understand how this multi-billion dollar state contract was awarded, including what caused the cost of each bidder to change by hundreds-of-millions of dollars between July and November."