By Associated Press
Frankfort, KY – A deadline for vendors to submit bids to manage most of Kentucky's Medicaid program has passed. State officials declined to identify any bidders who met Wednesday's deadline - or even how many bids were received. Don Speer, who is overseeing the bids for the state Finance and Administration Cabinet, cited confidentiality rules surrounding the bidding process. Kentucky is turning most of its $6.5 billion-a-year health plan for the poor and disabled over to outside managed care organizations in an effort to improve efficiency and cut costs. The program will be reshaped for more than half of the roughly 800,000 Kentuckians who depend on Medicaid for health care.