The US Department of Defence awarded UnitedHealth Group a nearly 6-year contract on Friday worth close to $20.5 billion to provide military health insurance coverage for its western region program. The contract covering the 21-state region had been held since 2009 by the TriWest Alliance, which is comprised of non-profit insurers and university hospital systems.
TriWest said in a statement that it was "extremely disappointed" by the DOD's decision. A spokesman for the alliance said it had not yet decided whether to formally protest the decision. UnitedHealth, the largest US health insurer by market value, last year lost to Humana the contract to serve members of the military through Tricare's south region.