As the New Year starts, a new collaboration has been made between the Mississippi Department of Finance and Administration (DFA) and the UnitedHealthcare. The healthcare company will take charge of the Mississippi Division of Medicaid (DOM)-administered Mississippi Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) for four years, with an option by the state to renew for a fifth year.

Last Jan. 1, approximately 67,000 children already enrolled in the program which is passed on to UnitedHealthcare of Mississippi. It has a healthcare provider network of 133 hospitals and almost 10,000 healthcare professionals, including Federally Qualified Health Centers and rural health clinics. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Mississippi had serviced the program for nearly a decade.

“We won the contract in an open bid process,” said Joseph W. Blackston, MD, JD, medical director for UnitedHealthcare of Mississippi. “We proposed a plan to the State with a proactive approach involving disease management programs for children with conditions such as asthma and diabetes, risk management, a large array of inpatient and outpatient services, and patient and physician outreach.”