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<p>A battle is brewing over the right to offer HMO coverage to state employees.</p><p>Three insurance companies set to lose contracts under a new plan for providing coverage have filed a formal bid protest against the Department of Management Services, saying the agency inappropriately awarded AvMed the contracts for state workers, their dependents and retirees. A hearing is set for Monday.</p><p>UnitedHealthcare, Florida Health Care and Coventry Health Care argue the department miscalculated the costs of competing proposals and that AvMed isn't capable of delivering the services promised.</p><p>The new policy, part of the department's efforts to rein in health-care costs, requires awarding HMOs contracts to the lowest single bidder in each of the state's 67 counties instead of allowing employees to pick from two or three companies.</p><p>In late July, DMS chose AvMed to serve 38 counties, up from 30 under the previous plan. UnitedHealthcare was awarded contracts for 18 counties, down from 67. Coventry's coverage area is dropping from 26 to four counties. And Florida Health Care is dropping from two counties to zero.</p><p>More than 177,000 employees and retirees are enrolled in state health-care plans. Of those, just under 85,000 are in HMOs. About 26,000 employees will have to switch companies under the changes, but the state is working to make sure they won't have to switch doctors, said DMS spokesman Kris Purcell.</p><p>“We think the impact is going to be fairly small in terms of the ability to see the same doctor they had,” Purcell said.</p><p>In Alachua and most surrounding counties, state employees have had a choice between AvMed, Coventry and UnitedHealthcare, but AvMed will be the sole provider starting in 2012. An exception is Putnam County, which will keep UnitedHealthcare as its sole provider.</p><p>As of June, 3,949 state employees and their dependents were enrolled in the state HMO program in Alachua County. Of those, AvMed already has 3,228 members, so 721 with other companies will have to change carriers or use the state's PPO.</p><p>At UF, 76 percent of employees in HMOs have AvMed, said spokeswoman Janine Sikes. The rest would automatically revert to the PPO plan through Blue Cross Blue Shield unless they opt to go with AvMed.</p><p>Most employees were not aware of the change, Sikes said. UF sent an email to faculty Thursday night that included information about open enrollment being delayed to give time to work the issue out, she said.</p><p>Open enrollment for state employee health care has been postponed from late September until early November.</p><p>Shands is contracted with all the state HMO providers and will still have a contract with AvMed, so state HMO patients will have access to the entire University of Florida and Shands system, said Shands spokeswoman Lindsey Robertson.</p><p>North Florida Regional Medical Center has a contract with AvMed and believes that most of its medical staff does but cannot confirm it, said spokeswoman Lauren Kruglanski.</p><p>The complainants say that instead of saving the state an estimated $400 million over two years, the policy will cost taxpayers nearly $500 million over two years.</p><p>“The department did not achieve a rational and meaningful price analysis,” said Elizabeth Calzadilla-Fiallo, a spokeswoman for UnitedHealthcare. “It was impossible for the department to have determined whether the intended award constitutes best value.”</p><p>Bid protest documents also say AvMed is rated “F” by the Better Business Bureau of South Florida and has experienced operating losses for several years.</p><p>“It is expected that additional information demonstrating AvMed's lack of fitness to be considered a 'responsible' vendor will surface,” read the court documents.</p><p>AvMed spokeswoman Conchita Ruiz-Topinka said the company is very sound financially with capital and surplus well in excess of the state's minimum requirements for HMOs and is consistently ranked above statewide competitors in consumer surveys by the National Committee for quality Assurance which regulates the industry.</p><p>She said the bid protest is simply a case of sour grapes.</p><p>“The protests are coming from plans that did not have a favorable result,” said Ruiz-Topinka. “The state asked the competing HMOs to provide their best possible rates and that's what we did.”</p><p>Purcell said DMS is trying to reach a settlement with UnitedHealthcare, but the company seems to only want to be the sole provider for the state or to be offered in every county.</p><p>“If they were offered in every county, it would cost an additional $50 million to $70 million per year,” he said.</p><p>“In terms of AvMed vs. United, the bottom line is that AvMed simply had much better rates in most counties and good network provider coverage,” Purcell wrote to The Sun.</p><p><i>Compiled from reports by Anthony Clark and the St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau.</i></p>

TALLAHASSEE — Good morning and happy Monday to you all. Hope you all had a great weekend. If you decided to tune out the noise from Presidency 5, we’ve got the details for you, plus more.

Pizza magnate Herman Cain surprised Texas Gov. Rick Perry by winning the Presidency 5 straw poll in Orlando this weekend, where Perry was expected to win. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney placed third. Here’s the Politico story.

The Orlando Sentinel reports that battle lines are being drawn as the push for destination casinos is starting to look like it will be one of the bigger issues before the Legislature in 2012. From the story: Politically powerful South Florida pari-mutuels want the right to build competing destination casinos. The Seminole Tribe says new casinos would nullify its year-old compact that pays the state $200 million a year for exclusive gaming rights outside South Florida. Anti-gambling groups from the past, including Orlando-based No Casinos Inc., are gearing up to fight any gaming expansion in the state. And a court case likely to wind up in the Supreme Court will be the ultimate decider in whether the Legislature can expand gambling in Florida or whether it must go before voters.

The Palm Beach Post reports that Moody’s economists believe South Florida home prices won’t hit bottom until late 2012 or early 2013. From the story:But whether clearing the logjam through an expedited foreclosure process will equal a shortcut to economic recovery is still up for debate. The current timeline to foreclosure in Florida is 676 days — nearly two years — the third-longest wait time in the country. Of seven economists interviewed by The Palm Beach Post, six said they generally believe speedier foreclosures will lead to a swifter rebound in the housing market and a more rapid healing of the economy at large.

The News Service of Florida reports that United Healthcare and the state signed a contract for employee health insurance. From the story: The state Department of Management Services said Friday that UnitedHealthcare of Florida signed a contract to provide HMO services in 18 counties. That announcement came after the 1st District Court of Appeal rejected parts of a legal challenge filed by United and declined to issue a stay. The other 49 counties will be divided among five HMOs that reached agreements with the state last week.

The Tampa Tribune has a story on the potential reemergence of a fight over who should control the Tampa Hillsborough County Expressway Authority. From the story: The big question, say critics and backers alike, is whether Gov. Rick Scott will make the issue a priority in 2012. A pair of powerful senators, Don Gaetz and JD Alexander, tried during budget deliberations this spring to fold Hillsborough’s expressway authority along with the Orlando-Orange County and Mid-Bay Bridge authorities into the Florida Turnpike Enterprise.

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