BATON ROUGE, La. — Aetna Better Health of Louisiana, a CVS Health company, announced this week that the Louisiana Department of Health intends to award the company a new statewide Medicaid contract through the Louisiana Medicaid Managed Care Program.

Aetna Better Health has served Medicaid enrollees in Louisiana for more than seven years. Through the contract award, Aetna Better Health of Louisiana would continue to serve several Medicaid eligible populations, including those enrolled in the Louisiana Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Louisiana Medicaid expansion population (EXP) and Specialized Behavioral Health (SBH) programs.

“We appreciate that the state of Louisiana continues to have confidence in Aetna Better Health’s commitment to better health outcomes for Louisianans,” said Kelly Munson, President, Aetna Medicaid. “We look forward to furthering our delivery of personalized, holistic care – with a deep focus on population health and health equity to continue to increase positive impacts on our members’ health and quality of life.”

Aetna Better Health of Louisiana has been working to improve the health of Medicaid enrollees and their communities. The organization has reduced health care disparities and achieved the highest percentage of COVID-19 vaccinated enrollees among all Medicaid plans serving Louisiana, in collaboration with CVS Health and local community-based organizations. In addition, CVS Health has offered more than 45 Project Health events, providing more than 2,700 no-cost biometric screenings in the state with more scheduled.

Aetna Better Health of Louisiana has also continued to support the social care needs of underserved populations in the state. Since 2019, the organization has provided over $775,000in funding to Louisiana community-based organizations, helping to fill needs such as food insecurity, maternal health and education. In addition, CVS Health is making a $25 millioninvestment to help build 224 affordable housing units for families and seniors in Louisiana.

“Our focus is on continuing to work closely with our state partners in Louisiana, helping them achieve their objectives for the Louisiana Medicaid Managed Care Program,” said Richard Born, CEO Aetna Better Health of Louisiana. “We’ll catalyze the efforts of the state and community partners and deliver innovative programs and services that support a healthy Louisiana.”

Aetna Better Health serves over 150,000 enrollees across the state through the Louisiana Medicaid Managed Care Program. The new contract is anticipated to begin later this year, with the option of renewals, pending the completion of the state’s protest period and contract negotiations.