2 Health Firms to Rebid on Defense Contract

Foundation Health Systems and Humana said they will get a second chance to bid on a $2-billion-plus defense contract that they lost last year to Anthem Inc.

Humana, a Louisville, Ky.-based health insurer, said the Defense Department agreed to reopen bidding on a contract to provide health-care services for more than 1 million people after Humana and Woodland Hills-based Foundation Health Systems protested parts of the original bidding process.

Humana, which had revenue of $4.8 billion for the first six months of 1998, said the contract is worth more than $2 billion over five years.

Foundation Health Systems, formed from the merger of Health Systems International and Foundation Health, is the nation’s fourth-largest public-managed health-care organization.

Anthem is a Blue Cross insurer based in Indianapolis.