KEY TAKEAWAYS: UnitedHealthcare will exit Louisiana’s Medicaid program after a 90-day extension ending March 31 About 330,000 enrollees must transition to one of five remaining Medicaid providers The extension eases immediate pressure but leaves a compressed transition timeline The decision is tied to an ongoing lawsuit and disputes over prescription drug pricing documents The second largest provider of Medicaid coverage in Louisiana will extend its plan for approximately 330,000 enrollees until March 31, but not after that date. UnitedHealthcare won’t stay in the state Medicaid program beyond the end of a 90-day contract extension it agreed to Thursday, according to company spokeswoman Christina Witz. “This extension is for the sole purpose of allowing for a more orderly and seamless transition for our members to other Managed Care Organizations to help prevent gaps in care and give health care providers a chance to enter into new contracts with these organizations,” Witz said  in a written statement. “While we are disappointed that we cannot continue providing access to quality care for our more than 300,000 Medicaid members throughout the state after March 31, 2026, we will continue to work in partnership with the state throughout the transition process,” she added. The extension means Louisiana’s Department of Health will not have to scramble to put hundreds of thousands of people into new Medicaid plans by Dec. 31, as previously planned. But Gov. Jeff Landry‘s administration will still have to transfer UnitedHealthcare enrollees to one of the five remaining Medicaid providers on a compressed timeline. The state health department ran into challenges when it attempted a similar transfer over a period of several months in 2022, legislators said earlier this week. “When we have to do this in the past, when we’ve had a year to do this, there have been problems,” Sen. Jay Luneau, D-Alexandria, said at a hearing Tuesday. UnitedHealthcare covers a quarter of the approximately 1.4 million Louisiana residents in the Medicaid program. Aetna Better Health of Louisiana, AmeriHealth Caritas, Healthy Blue, Humana Healthy Horizons and Louisiana Healthcare Connections also offer Medicaid plans. Health Secretary Bruce Greenstein expressed confidence his agency can carry out the massive shift on the three-month timeline. “This extension gives us more time to take an even more thoughtful approach to transitioning members to new plans,” he said in a written statement. Earlier this week, Greenstein and Attorney General Liz Murrill also suggested the contract extension would provide more “runway” for Murrill and UnitedHealthcare to come to an agreement over a lawsuit between the state and the company. “It will give United an opportunity to come and talk to me and provide us with what we have asked for,” Murrill said of the contract extension in an interview with reporters Tuesday. “It gives them an opportunity that they might not otherwise have had.” But the state will not be able to hold the ultimatum of the contract over UnitedHealthcare if the company has already decided to walk away from the Medicaid program after March. UnitedHealthcare’s original contract for all of 2026 was supposed to be $4.2 billion. The health department did not say Thursday how much the 90-day extension will be worth. Attorney general pressure Assuming UnitedHealthcare pulls out of Louisiana’s Medicaid program at the end March, it will largely be at the behest of the attorney general. As recently as last month, UnitedHealthcare was on track to continue providing Medicaid coverage in Louisiana through the end of 2026. Louisiana legislators signed off on the contract extension Nov. 20 at the urging of the Landry administration. Greenstein personally pushed for the agreement as part of a package with the five other private Medicaid contracts during a three-hour hearing. The health department then abruptly canceled UnitedHealthcare’s agreement 11 days later after receiving a letter from Murrill encouraging it to do so. She alleged UnitedHealthcare has violated its state contract by withholding documents from state officials regarding prescription drug pricing for Louisiana’s Medicaid program. UnitedHealthcare has repeatedly stated it is complying with its contract and the law. The claim of withholding of documents was a motivating factor for the state’s lawsuit against UnitedHealthcare, initially launched in 2022 by Landry when he was attorney general. Murrill took over the litigation when she took office in 2024, In the lawsuit, Landry and Murrill allege UnitedHealthcare and its pharmacy benefits manager, Optum Rx, overcharged Louisiana’s Medicaid program for prescription drugs from 2015 to 2023. Murrill said the attorney general’s office has sought documents that would shed light on the company’s drug pricing practices, but UnitedHealthcare has refused to provide them. UnitedHealthcare stands out from the other Medicaid’s managed care organizations, Murrill said, because the other companies have provided similar information when requested. Murrill said she warned UnitedHealthcare at an Oct. 15 mediation session that she would move to block its 2026 contract extension. “They have known that this was going to be the recommendation I was going to make,” she said Tuesday. “I don’t make threats. If I told them that that was what I was going to do, I meant it.” Though UnitedHealthcare might have known its contract could be blocked, legislators were in the dark. Murrill never raised concerns with lawmakers before they voted to let the contract move forward in late November. Greenstein said he also wasn’t aware the contract was at risk of being terminated by the attorney general until after lawmakers voted. “I didn’t know we were at that point,” Greenstein said Tuesday when lawmakers asked why he had pushed a contract at a legislative hearing less than a month ago that the attorney general opposed. Fewer Medicaid plans The Landry administration and several legislators have wanted to reduce the number of private companies working in the Medicaid program. Lawmakers in both parties believe the state is paying for too much overhead by working with six managed care organizations. Not everyone will be enthusiastic about losing UnitedHealthcare as one of those insurers. Senate President Pro Tempore Regina Barrow, D-Baton Rouge, said in an interview this week that while she wants fewer Medicaid plans, UnitedHealthcare was not among those she initially thought should be dropped. Katie Corkern, who advocates for mental health services and people with disabilities, said doctors and health care providers find UnitedHealthcare easier to work with than other managed care organizations. “They work well with providers. There are not a lot of hassles [the providers] have to go through,” Corkern said Thursday. ...read more read less