CSC lands discount drug card work

Computer Sciences Corp. won a $46 million contract to enroll Medicare participants in a program for discount drug cards, the company said today.

Under the agreement with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, CSC will provide enrollment processing services and service-center operations as well as oversee client relations, financial management and the development and maintenance of a compliance program, the company said.

The drug discount card program lets beneficiaries receive discounts on prescription drug purchases and provides $600 million a year in transitional assistance to program beneficiaries at lower levels.

The El Segundo, Calif.-based information services company was one of three firms selected for the program. CSC's offices in Baltimore, Rensselaer, N.Y., and Cleveland will perform the work. The agreement is worth around $46 million over 20 months.

In a separate announcement, CSC said that its federal business unit signed 93 contracts and subcontracts valued at approximately $327 million during the fourth quarter of its fiscal 2004, which ends today.

The previously unannounced fourth-quarter deals range from $10,000 to $67 million, and vary in length from two months to 10 years, the company said. Defense Department agencies accounted for a total of $192 million for 50 contracts with lengths of four months to five years, CSC said. Civil agencies accounted for a total of $135 million for 43 contracts with durations of two months to 10 years.

Among the kinds of work that CSC will perform under the contracts are communications, networking, information assurance and the development of distance learning applications, the company said.

CSC reported revenue of $13.8 billion for the 12 months ended Jan. 2, 2004, and has around 90,000 employees.