But buried in the contract deals are two companies more famous for their roles with national defense than health insurance: Lockheed Martin Corp. and Northrop Grumman Corp. HHS has paid a Lockheed Martin subsidiary $17.2 million, as of February, and a Northrop Grumman subsidiary $2.6 million for their work on HealthCare.gov. Both companies have been involved with back-end technology, according to the OIG.
Even more interesting: These companies are doing more than just HealthCare.gov work for HHS.
The estimated value of Lockheed Martin’s contract with HHS was more than $248 million when the ink dried in 2009, as it oversees a multitude of information technology projects. Northrop Grumman’s contract, effective November 2011, had an effective value of almost $86 million. Northrop Grumman exclusively tests and maintains the IT associated with two huge Medicare payment projects: the Pioneer Accountable Care Organization Model (which lost yet another member this week) and the Medicare Shared Savings Program.
These two conglomerates—best known for their military intelligence systems, fighter planes, missiles and drones—are also no stranger to government healthcare contracts. According to official U.S. contracting data, the same Lockheed Martin subsidiary (Lockheed Martin Services) has received more than $2.4 billion related to HHS projects since 2000. Northrop Grumman Information Technology, meanwhile, has collected almost $436 million in HHS contracts since 2001.
Their work has been somewhat nebulous, as they have provided IT and support services for numerous agencies under the HHS umbrella, including the CMS, the National Institutes of Health, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
If anything, this shows that money for government healthcare projects is attracting more than the usual suspects when it comes to contractors. Defense firms are getting slices of the cake as they try to broaden their market beyond the military.
Follow Bob Herman on Twitter: @MHbherman
