(The Center Square) – The Michigan Department of Corrections and two health care companies may face a state audit for their alleged mishandling of a $590 million contract, with State Sen. Roger Hauck, R-Mt. Pleasant, requesting Attorney General Dana Nessel to investigate.
Wellpath and Grand Prairie together provided organized medical care for Michigan’s inmates starting in 2021. The organizations terminated their five-year contract early with the MDOC in April, neglecting to pay off outstanding medical bills to local providers, including roughly $6 million for ambulance services.
“The state contracted with Wellpath and Grand Prairie to provide health care for inmates, but local providers are being left with unpaid bills. The attorney general must investigate these companies and hold them accountable,” Hauck said in a statement this week. “This situation is jeopardizing the ability of some providers to stay in business. We need swift action to ensure these bills are paid and to prevent this from happening again.”
After Wellpath and Grand Prairie ended the contract, the state transferred their outstanding debts to VitalCore Health Strategies, who started collaborating with the MDOC in February.
“Wellpath and Grand Prairie requested a termination of their contract, and the state agreed to let them walk away, despite their failure to address the issue of unpaid bills to health care providers,” Hauck said. “Rather than ensuring these outstanding payments were resolved, the state transitioned the contract to VitalCore Health Strategies, leaving many providers in a precarious position with no clear path to recovering what they’re owed.”
The MODC’s original decision to choose Wellpath and Grand Prairie as health care providers for Michigan prisoners had already raised concerns, as the department had selected them because they were the lowest bidders. Hauck said that the MODC’s failure to confirm the financial viability of the bid resulted in the negative impact on local services and inmate quality of care.
“While selecting the cheapest option may have seemed like a good decision at the time, it’s now clear both companies under-projected costs. As a result, local health care providers have been left unpaid, which jeopardizes the critical services these providers offer,” Hauck said.
Wellpath and Grand Prairie did not respond to a request for comment.
