Rhode Island will continue using EDS to process Medicaid claims.
EDS has retained its Medicaid financial services contract with the state of Rhode Island.
The company has been processing health care provider claims for the state for 12 years. The new award, announced April 11, spans a four-year base period and two one-year options. The contract is valued at $73 million.
EDS provides Medicaid claims processing services for 16 states, according to a company spokesman. The Rhode Island award follows a company deal earlier this year to build and implement a Medicaid Management Information System for Wisconsin. The Wisconsin contract covers seven years and is valued at $189.1 million.
Last year, EDS captured four out of five Medicaid claims processing re-competitions.
Input analysts predict that state and local health care information technology spending will grow to $9 billion in 2009 from a projected 6 billion in 2005. The market researcher cited continued investment in Medicaid Management Information Systems as a factor behind the growth trend.
In a March Securities and Exchange Commission filing, EDS cited its Medicare and Medicaid claims processing business as an example of its business process outsourcing services. Such outsourcing, the filing states, "continues to be one of the fastest growing market segments in the IT services industry."
Moore is a freelance writer based in Syracuse, N.Y.
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