Unisys to build Maine Medicaid system

Unisys Corp. will develop and then manage health care claim processing for Maine's new MaineCare Information System under a seven-year contract that could be worth as much as $180 million.

Design and implementation of the system is expected to take two years and cost about $35.5 million, with $3.55 million coming from state funds. The operations phase of the contract will follow for five years at a cost of about $144 million. The state will contribute $14.4 million of that amount.

During the first two years, Unisys will employ a Medicaid Management Information System currently in use elsewhere to develop, configure and test the new system for MaineCare.

The firm will also build and maintain a data warehouse for reporting, data analysis and other functions.

Having received the required approval of the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the state can finally move aggressively toward a federally certified system, said Health and Human Services Commissioner Brenda Harvey. This is critical because a certified system allows states to achieve the highest level of federal matching funds to manage their Medicaid programs, she added.

Maine's system is expected to be completed by Feb. 28, 2010, and be fully certified by October of that year.

Unisys, of Blue Bell, Pa., ranks No. 27 on Washington Technology's 2007 Top 100 list of the largest federal government prime contractors.