(The Center Square) – The front-runner to manage Wisconsin’s Medicaid system has a history of missing deadlines, inflating costs and a “questionable track record.”
Wisconsin is finalizing a $1.4 billion contract for a new single fiscal employer agent for Medicaid’s self‑directed care program. The New York-based company Public Partnerships LLC is seen as the front-runner.
But the company has a history that includes some questions.
The state of New York tapped PPL to take over its Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program, but the company missed several key deadlines, including last April’s deadline to begin management.
There were also allegations in New York that that state’s governor, Kathy Hochul, improperly steered its Medicaid management contract to PPL.
“It has been brought to light that the Hochul administration has handed a de facto sole-source contract – under the guise of Medicaid reform, with only the illusion of competitive bidding – to PPL while at the same time receiving consultation about Medicaid reform from PCG, whose executives just happen to have a 25% ownership interest in PPL,” New York Democrat Congressman Ritchie Torres wrote in a letter to federal Medicaid managers in January of last year.
There are also questions about PPL’s performance.
The Legal Aid Society in New York sued PPL over allegations of not paying personal Medicaid assistants. The complaint accused PPL of paying some workers weeks late – or not paying at all for certain periods – and that contacting PPL for resolution was difficult.
In Wisconsin, there are worries about moving from three current Medicaid managers to just one.
Melanie Cairns, managing attorney at Disability Rights Wisconsin, said she worries about poor communication with agents at times and a lack of timeliness when it comes to returning calls and working out resolutions.
“It’s already extremely difficult for IRIS participants to hire workers,” she said. “When there is a delay in getting paid, it’s more likely that they will lose those workers and need to start over.”
Wisconsin has finalized the bids for its new Medicaid manager but has not yet announced which company it will go with. The new contract is supposed to begin in April 2027.
