Three companies are bidding on a contract to analyze what’s wrong with Vermont Health Connect and how the state should move forward with the embattled health care exchange website.
The companies are Health Management Associates (based in Massachusetts), Pilot Healthcare Strategies (based in California), and Strategic Solutions Group (based in Massachusetts).
The Joint Fiscal Office — a nonpartisan team of budget analysts for the Legislature — released the company names in response to VTDigger’s request under the Vermont Public Records Act.
• Health Management Associates is a consulting firm that works with hospitals as large as Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.
• Pilot Healthcare Strategies is run by a longtime health care consultant who worked on the California exchange, called Covered California.
• Strategic Solutions Group is a project management company that advertises project management, strategic planning, and various information technology services.
The Joint Fiscal Office issued the request for proposals for the Vermont Health Connect Study on June 13. Bidding opened on July 5, at which point the names of the bidders became public information.
The Legislature has appropriated $250,000 for a study that looks at the exchange’s short-term functionality (whether Vermont Health Connect can handle open enrollment this year) and long-term sustainability (whether Vermont should keep the exchange).
The study is due Dec. 15.
