Louisiana Medicaid is administered by the Department of Health (LDH), Bureau of Health Services Financing (BHSF), under the managed care brand Healthy Louisiana. Five managed care organizations currently hold Louisiana's comprehensive Medicaid contracts: Aetna Better Health of Louisiana, AmeriHealth Caritas Louisiana, Healthy Blue, Humana Healthy Horizons in Louisiana, and Louisiana Healthcare Connections. A sixth plan, UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Louisiana, held a contract until LDH closed it out effective March 31, 2026, reassigning nearly 280,000 members to the remaining five plans. CMS's most recently published managed care enrollment data, for report year 2024, still lists UnitedHealthcare alongside the other five MCOs, since that dataset predates the closeout.
Aetna Better Health of Louisiana, AmeriHealth Caritas Louisiana, Healthy Blue, Humana Healthy Horizons in Louisiana, and Louisiana Healthcare Connections hold Louisiana's current comprehensive Medicaid managed care contracts. A sixth plan, UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Louisiana, was closed out effective March 31, 2026, and its roughly 280,000 members were reassigned to the remaining five plans. CMS's own 2024 enrollment data shows a real structural split worth understanding: each of the same MCOs is reported twice, once under a comprehensive benefit covering the general Medicaid population, and again under a much smaller, separate 'BHO only' benefit whose enrollment is overwhelmingly dual-eligible members. For example, Aetna Better Health of Louisiana's comprehensive enrollment was 131,535 with 33 dual-eligible members, while its BHO-only enrollment was 18,434 with 17,253 dual-eligible members; Medicare covers physical health for dual-eligible members, and the same MCO administers only their behavioral health benefit under this narrower role.
Long-term services and supports are not part of the standard Healthy Louisiana comprehensive MCO benefit; they are delivered fee-for-service through a set of separately administered home- and community-based services waivers. Four waivers serve individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities under the Office for Citizens with Developmental Disabilities: the Children's Choice Waiver, the New Opportunities Waiver (NOW), the Supports Waiver, and the Residential Options Waiver. A fifth, the Community Choices Waiver, serves elderly and disabled adults under the Office of Aging and Adult Services; a sixth waiver that once served this same population, the Elderly and Disabled Adult Waiver, is no longer operational.
Not integrated into managed care
Behavioral health for the general Medicaid population is included in the standard Healthy Louisiana comprehensive benefit, delivered by the same five MCOs that deliver physical health coverage. A narrower population with the most significant behavioral health needs is served separately through the Coordinated System of Care (CSoC), administered by Magellan Health, Inc. under a Section 1915(b)(c) concurrent waiver that combines CSoC with the broader Healthy Louisiana managed care mechanism in one authority. CSoC served 2,404 members in 2024, a small fraction of Louisiana's overall Medicaid population.
Carved in
Dental is carved out of the comprehensive MCO benefit and delivered through two statewide Dental Benefit Prepaid Management (DBPM) plans: DentaQuest and MCNA Dental. In 2024, DentaQuest covered 799,766 members and MCNA Dental covered 733,170.
Gainwell Technologies, Louisiana's Medicaid fiscal agent, processes fee-for-service pharmacy claims through its point-of-sale system. No single statewide pharmacy benefit manager administers pharmacy for Louisiana's five comprehensive MCOs; pharmacy is included in each plan's own standard managed care benefit.
Non-emergency medical transportation is brokered rather than delivered directly by the MCOs. Verida and Southeastrans both hold current Louisiana Medicaid non-emergency medical transportation broker contracts.
Gainwell Technologies operates Louisiana's Medicaid Management Information System and serves as the state's fiscal agent, running the lamedicaid.com provider portal. Health Management Systems (HMS) provides third-party liability and audit recovery services for the program.
Last updated: Aug 29, 2026
162 agency updates tracked for Louisiana. Available with Pro.
See them with ProGet the daily briefing.