Molina Healthcare confirmed late Tuesday it is losing its contract to provide coverage for Medicaid clients in New Mexico next year.
“We are disappointed that we were not selected to provide services through New Mexico’s Statewide Medicaid Managed Care program beginning January 1, 2019,” the company said in a prepared statement in response to an inquiry from the Journal. “As the largest Medicaid managed care plan in the state of New Mexico, and with 20 years of experience serving Medicaid members, we believe we are well-positioned to continue providing a high level of service to our members and providers.”
According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, Molina was serving 236,000 clients through the state’s Medicaid managed care program as of last March. Presbyterian Health Plans was second, with 230,000 enrollees.
More than 700,000 people are insured through Medicaid in the state.
The company said in the statement that it was trying to get more information about the state’s decision and was “exploring our options.”
The news that Molina had lost its bid with the state’s Centennial Care managed care program was first reported Tuesday in Albuquerque Business First.
Molina, based in Long Beach, Calif., serves about 4.5 million people in 12 states and Puerto Rico.
The company had been growing in New Mexico in recent years, more than doubling the size of its business footprint in 2015, when it leased nearly 140,000 square feet of office space downtown.
Last year, after announcing in July that it would shed 81 jobs from its 1,200-person New Mexico workforce, the company said a restructuring would lead to the creation of 250 new contact center jobs in the state.
