Maximus lands $6.6B Medicare call center contract

Tysons company will continue to support contact center operations

Published September 2, 2022 by Katherine Schulte

Maximus Inc. won an up to $6.6 billion contract for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services for contact center operations, the Tysons-based federal contractor announced Thursday.

Under the contract, which has a one-year base period and nine one-year options, Maximus will continue supporting CMS’ contact center. The contact center operations contract handles more 35 million customer inquiries a year for CMS programs like 1-800 MEDICARE and the health insurance marketplace across a range of channels, from telephone and fax to email and web chat, according to a news release.

“This award reflects the commitment of thousands of Maximus employees who each day provide exceptional service to their fellow citizens,” Maximus President and CEO Bruce Caswell said in a statement. “Over the years, CMS has shaped this program to become the trusted source of information and assistance for Americans seeking to better understand their health care benefits. Going forward, this contract will allow our employees to continue providing the best customer experience to the American public.”

Maximus has been the prime contractor for the 1-800 MEDICARE and health insurance marketplace contact centers since 2018 and has supported CMS contact centers for more than a decade, starting as a subcontractor to Reston-based General Dynamics Corp. The company operates 84 contact centers in 28 states and employs more than 20,000 contact center agents. It handles more than 100 million contacts per year, according to a CMS news release.

Maximus has 38,000 employees. This year, employees in Virginia, Louisiana and Mississippi have protested for higher wages, but the company has said it is limited by the federal Service Contract Act.

Maximus was founded in 1975 and provides business process management and technology services to federal, state and local governments. The company reported $4.25 billion in revenue in 2021 and has employees in nine countries. Of its 38,000 employees, about 4,600 are in Virginia.

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