NASHVILLE, Tenn.--Cigna Government Services is pushing to add more than 200 positions in preparation for taking over as the Jurisdiction C durable medical equipment Medicare Administrative Contractor, officials said late last week.

Cigna, which will take on an additional 13 million Medicare providers, suppliers and beneficiaries in 15 southern states and the U.S. Virgin Islands, expects to assume the MAC duties from Palmetto GBA sometime this year.

"We don't have a date for the implementation to begin," said Gloria Barone, public relations director for Cigna. But the company needs to be prepared, she said, so it is beginning its ramp-up now.

"We're looking to add 200 people to the operation," Barone said. "We'll be holding job fairs beginning in March."

She said specifics as to what types of positions would be filled and when and where the job fairs would be held would be forthcoming. It is, however, expected that Cigna will require new positions in claims, quality and technical areas, as well as management and supervisory positions.

A final ruling by the General Accounting Office in January allowed Cigna to hang on to its $144 million claims processing contract (see HomeCare Monday, Jan. 29).

The contract had been in question since January 2006, when CMS awarded it to Palmetto, which has been the contractor for Region C since 1993. Cigna, which had also bid on the contract, filed a protest, and the GAO ruled in its favor in late September. Palmetto then filed a protest, which once again placed the contract in limbo until the GAO made its final ruling.

The MAC contract includes a base year and four one-year options.

Palmetto will continue to operate the National Supplier Clearinghouse and as the Statistical Analysis Durable Medical Equipment Regional Contractor until CMS settles those contracts.