{"id":4595,"date":"2009-05-22T11:59:00","date_gmt":"2009-05-22T17:59:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2009\/05\/valueoptions-didnt-file-complaint-with-the-feds\/"},"modified":"2009-05-22T11:59:00","modified_gmt":"2009-05-22T17:59:00","slug":"valueoptions-didnt-file-complaint-with-the-feds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2009\/05\/valueoptions-didnt-file-complaint-with-the-feds\/","title":{"rendered":"ValueOptions didn’t file complaint with the feds"},"content":{"rendered":"

Company protesting the awarding of state\u2019s behavioral health services contract to OptumHealth says it also hasn\u2019t been subpoenaed in the case<\/span><\/p>\n

ValueOptions New Mexico<\/a>, which has been loudly protesting the recent awarding of the state\u2019s behavioral health services contract to another company, says it didn\u2019t initiate the federal investigation into the procurement process.<\/p>\n

In addition, ValueOptions says it hasn\u2019t been subpoenaed in the case.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe did not file a complaint with federal investigators, nor have we received a subpoena,\u201d said the company\u2019s director of public affairs and communications, Patrick Killen. \u201cAs a matter of policy, we do not comment on investigations in process.\u201d<\/p>\n

In April, a federal grand jury subpoenaed documents<\/a> related to the state\u2019s pending shift from ValueOptions to OptumHealth New Mexico<\/a>, a subsidiary of United HealthCare<\/a>. The state awarded the massive contract in January to OptumHealth over ValueOptions, which has held the contract for four years.<\/p>\n

ValueOptions is challenging that in court<\/a>, alleging that the state changed its scoring system to favor OptumHealth. State officials say there was no impropriety in the scoring process.<\/p>\n

Both companies gave big<\/a> to Gov. Bill Richardson\u2019s<\/a> 2008 presidential campaign and in other ways.<\/p>\n

ValueOptions\u2019 administrative protest is pending in court, and Killen said ValueOptions hopes for an \u201cexpedited resolution.\u201d OptumHealth is scheduled to take over July 1.<\/p>\n

I asked if there\u2019s a chance that the court action or investigation might lead to the state not having a behavioral health services provider in place on that date. Here\u2019s what Killen said:<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have found serious fault with the state\u2019s proposal evaluation process and believe that a stay is in the best interest of New Mexico and its behavioral health care consumers,\u201d Killen said. \u201cRegardless of the outcome, however, the state will have a behavioral health services provider in place on July 1 — ValueOptions just believes firmly that we are the best qualified to provide the services New Mexico needs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the state has to respond to the subpoena it received from the federal grand jury next week. State officials have declined to comment on the investigation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Company protesting the awarding of state\u2019s behavioral health services contract to OptumHealth says it also hasn\u2019t been subpoenaed in the case ValueOptions New Mexico, which has been loudly protesting the recent awarding of the state\u2019s behavioral health services contract to another company, says it didn\u2019t initiate the federal investigation into the procurement process. In addition, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4595","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4595","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4595"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4595\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4595"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4595"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4595"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}