TriWest Healthcare protests awarding of $1.4 billion TRICARE contract

TriWest Healthcare Alliance announced last week that it will protest the Department of Defense award of a TRICARE contract to UnitedHealth Group to provide access to health care for military families in the 21-state TRICARE West Region. TriWest has held the contract for 16 years. It was initially awarded this most recent contract in July 2009, and underwent a lengthy protest process led by UnitedHealth Group, which led to a rebid of the T-3 contract in August 2011. The contract is estimated to be worth $1.4 billion.