In an effort to persuade the Government Accountability Office to reconsider the decision to give the TRICARE West region contract to UnitedHealth Group, TriWest launched a full-page ad campaign and created a website (savemymilitaryhealthcare.com) which compares TriWest’s record to their competitor.
In response, UnitedHealth Group launched a Washington DC area ad campaign to announce their new contract and plans for serving the military community.
The savemymilitaryhealthcare.com website also features video testimonials by military leaders and articles explaining TriWest’s side of the story. But, the website doesn’t address the Justice Department lawsuit in which whistle-blowers claimed TriWest "systematically defrauded" the government. TriWest paid $10 Million to settle the case in which they were accused of billing the government higher-than-negotiated rates.
However, the website does point out the class-action lawsuit which alleges that the United Healthcare Insurance Company violated the California Mental Health Parity Act, which requires insurers to provide treatment for mental-health diagnoses according to “the same terms and conditions” applied to medical conditions.
The GAO is expected to issue their decision on TriWest’s appeal by July 5, 2012.
