UnitedHealthcare ends state Medicaid contract

UnitedHealthcare is ending its contract with a Wisconsin Medicaid program, citing too many payment rate cuts. Wisconsin officials reduced rates for the BadgerCare Plus program, which covers families with children under 19 who have incomes of less than 200 percent of the federal poverty threshold, in 2011 and this year, reported the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. In a letter to the state, UnitedHealth, which won the contract in 2010 to administer Medicaid plans in southeastern Wisconsin, said BadgerCare's payment rates "would not allow us to be able to deliver the level of quality and service our members deserve." It is ending the contract Oct. 31, but will maintain the other Wisconsin Medicaid contracts it holds. Article