ValueOptions(R) New Mexico Files Formal Protest of Award of New Mexico Behavioral Health Contract...( ALBUQUERQUE N.M. Feb. 9 /- ValueOptio...),Health

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M., Feb. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- ValueOptions(R) New Mexico, Inc., today filed a formal protest and requested a stay of procurement for the State of New Mexico's managed behavioral health care contract RFP 09-630-7903-0001, which was recently signed with UnitedHealth/Optum following a competitive bidding process.

ValueOptions(R) New Mexico believes a stay is in the best interest of the state and its seriously mentally ill consumers who will be adversely affected by the potential upheaval in service delivery caused by the Behavioral Health Purchasing Collaborative's refusal to take responsibility for the errors and flaws in its procurement process. ValueOptions(R) New Mexico asserts that the Collaborative awarded the new contract through a flawed evaluation process.

The protest finds demonstrable fault in the proposal evaluation process. ValueOptions(R) New Mexico asserts that the contract award to UnitedHealth/Optum was not based on criteria published in the RFP, that evaluation criteria were improperly applied, that evidence regarding the winning bidder's integrity and business ethics were ignored, that a serious conflict of interest was overlooked, and that proposal evaluators failed to consider the absence of necessary software licenses by the winning bidder.

"Our concern, as always, is for the health and well-being of New Mexico's behavioral health care consumers," said Barbara B. Hill, CEO of ValueOptions(R), Inc., parent of ValueOptions(R) New Mexico. "They have a right to know whether or not the procurement process was conducted in a forthright and legal manner. We have given this matter very thorough consideration. Based on facts and evidence, we believe our protest will be upheld."

"As required by the RFP, it is important for New Mexico to contract with the vendor that submitted the proposal that is most advantageous to the state," said Eddy Broadway, CEO of ValueOptions(R)
'/>"/>